We’re still waiting for Cadillac’s first F1 race, but while March is still a couple of months away, Ford just took the opportunity to reveal a little more about its partnership with Red Bull’s F1 team. If you don’t follow F1 news closely, you might assume that means we’ll soon be seeing Fords racing wheel-to-wheel against Cadillacs, but that’s not actually the case. Instead, Ford has been collaborating with Red Bull on its engines. That’s also where things could get even more confusing for the casual fan, since Ford isn’t actually building the engines, just “supporting the build of an F1 power unit.”
Granted, we sort of knew this already, but 2023 was also a long time ago, and older announcements were short on details. Now, Ford says its “most immediate contributions to our partnership with Red Bull Powertrains [have] been in the world of advanced manufacturing,” claiming that its “state-of-the-art 3D printing technology” has allowed Red Bull Powertrains to print parts three times faster than before. So, instead of needing 16 days to print a prototype part, they’re now down to only five days.
In addition to “fabricating unique, highly complex components for the combustion engine, charge air system, and energy recovery systems,” Ford says it’s using a “unique controls model” developed by Ford Racing simulation engineer Kevin Ruybal to allow drivers to test changes and give feedback before the new parts even head to the 3D printer. Its engineers are also reportedly working closely with Red Bull’s team to optimize when and how drivers deploy the extra power provided by the car’s hybrid system.
Merely a marketing deal?
Sadly, while we would have loved to attend the actual announcement event, a little COVID exposure kept us away. Thankfully, our friends over at The Drive didn’t have any communicable diseases to worry about spreading and got a few more details than Ford included in the press release, especially in terms of Ford’s actual role here. Is it, as Cadillac F1 Team CEO Dan Towriss put it in a recent interview with the Athletic, “a marketing deal with very minimal impact, while GM is an equity owner?”
When The Drive asked Ford Racing Powertrain chief engineer Christian Hertrich about that comment, Hertrich pushed back, saying, “I mean, it’s sad. I sometimes wish it were a stickering exercise because I would get a lot more sleep, but it’s not true. Can I say that we’re manufacturing the power unit? Absolutely not. And if anyone told you that, it’s a lie. We are actively contributing. We have multiple Ford team members sitting at Red Bull. We have team members back here in Detroit working. We’re producing parts. When you have parts come out of southeastern Michigan and go to the U.K. and go into a Formula 1 car, I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s a stickering and a marketing exercise.”
So, what exactly is Ford contributing? As The Drive put it:
Specifically, Ford is responsible for designing, developing, testing, and manufacturing 12 unique parts for the Red Bull powertrain. Some are small, while others are as large and crucial as the turbocharger turbine housing. That may not sound like a considerable amount, especially in a machine with thousands of components, but it’s the human intellect and R&D that go into those 12 components that make this much more than just a marketing ploy. And according to the powertrain team’s top brass, Ford’s expertise and manufacturing agility in the face of a massive rules change are its biggest assets.
Of course, the proof will ultimately be in the race results. Maybe Ford will help Red Bull win big and make Cadillac look like fools. Maybe Ford’s recall issues will follow it to F1 and end up being a disaster. But who doesn’t love a little not-entirely-friendly competition?
