When the engine regulations set to undergo a major change ahead of the 2026 season, many teams will be looking to take advantage of the opportunity to start fresh.
Audi will complete their takeover of Sauber ahead of this season, entering the sport in the year when every team will also be starting from square one.
Red Bull will also make a major change in 2026, moving away from their partnership with Honda to become powered by Red Bull Powertrains.
This new entrant will be looking to keep Red Bull at the top of the timing charts, with Ford returning to the sport to help Red Bull Powertrains get ahead of the competition.
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Having not been seen in Formula 1 since their days powering Jaguar in the Cosworth engine era, Ford’s return to F1 has been met with a lot of optimism, with the return of such a car manufacturing giant being nothing but positive for the sport.
Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle has been speaking about Ford’s F1 return, suggesting that it is an interesting decision to join forces with Red Bull.
“If you look at the Ford thing, it’s a halfway house really – it’s an interesting one,” he said.
“Red Bull had Infiniti on for a while, then it had Aston Martin on the side of it for a while before Aston got their own team, so this is a branding thing.
“What I find most interesting here is all of the world’s car manufacturers are totally focused on electric cars, EVs, coming up.
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“And yet if you look at the Ford announcement today, they love the idea of the technology, sustainability, sustainable fuels and the opportunity and then, basically, eyeballs – the number of people who are watching Formula 1 now who are not watching other Formula with just battery power, for example.
“So it’s interesting that they’re even wanting to be involved in Formula 1, but it’s just the might that it has at the moment. So they’re coming in different ways.”
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has expressed his delight at Ford’s return to F1, suggesting that having such a powerhouse of the motoring world involved in the sport will be beneficial for all parties.