Red Bull Ford engine struggle is already emerging as one of the stories of the next generation before Formula 1 begins its new era, as the world champions are candidly acknowledging that the early suffering is inevitable as they head into an unprecedented new partnership with power units. With the team getting ready to start its first season with an in-house engine programme supported by Ford, high-ups within the organisation have cautioned both fans and competitors that it will not achieve immediate success, despite the levels of optimism about the long-term outlook being extremely high.
Red Bull have always been eager to deal with expectations. Laurent Mekies, the team principal, spoke of the need to produce a competitive Formula 1 engine starting with a blank sheet of paper as crazy, and that it would be unreasonable to expect to dominate as a team as quickly as possible. To begin with, the size of the task will be unprecedented on the side of the Milton Keynes-based squad. Whereas Red Bull have taken on the sport in the chassis and the operations front, engine development is another field of battle, the one that has long been dominated by decades old players like Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda.
Yet, Mekies was also quite explicit that it does not imply that someone lacks ambition to struggle in the short run. He admitted that the first races of the new regulations cycle might make him have headaches and sleepless nights but all the team had faith in the project. Mekies says that Red Bull will survive the hardships, learn fast and become stronger in the end. It is not only a message to the supporters, but also to competitors: now be patient, trust in the future.
Central to this Red Bull Ford engine fracas is a beau coup of change-behind-the-scenes. During the last five years Red Bull has developed a brand new engine plant in their base, and employed approximately 700 employees to make up Red Bull Powertrains. Ford entered the project when the ground work had been laid with the added benefit of not only a financial support but also technical know-how and industrial strength. The joint venture was officially announced in Detroit which was a strategic decision considering that Ford has a history and its desire to make a comeback at the international motorsport arena.
In the meantime, there is the driver line-up which brings another level of intrigue. The team has four-time world champion Max Verstappen and he will be the pillar of Red Bull to guide the team to this period of transition. French rookie Isak Hadjar who was promoted out of Racing Bulls joins him following good performances when they were still in junior. The fact that Verstappen has lost the 2024 title race to Lando Norris by a very thin margin, and Red Bull has slipped to number three in the constructors tables, points to the fact that the team is already competing on the basis of relative weakness.
The last but not the least, there is the technical reality of the new regulations. The 2026 regulations of Formula 1 reflect a paradigm change, and the engines use much more electricity and operate using completely sustainable fuels. Its 1.6-litre V6 turbo is still the same, only the architecture has been transformed to a greater extent. This is both an opportunity and a threat to a new comer engine builder. Red bull powertrain division technical director Ben Hodgkinson who was formerly with Mercedes acknowledged that being two months behind made the team to lag a couple of months behind in pure development time. However, he also said that the construction of new facilities and the acquisition of the finest talent have enabled Red Bull to outdo competitors in some of its domains.
The dominance of Ford is especially in high manufacturing and supply chains. Hodgkinson did expose that the skills of Ford have helped it to produce the more complex elements of 3D components which would have otherwise been difficult to machane. Equally important, the purchasing strength of Ford has resulted in access to suppliers in the electric vehicles industry, to which an individual F1 team would find it difficult to earn attention. In this respect, the Ford engine battle between Red Bull and Ford is diluted by the benefits of having a global automotive company.
To sum up, Red Bull are venturing forth not only with open eyes, but into unexplored territory, as well. They are prepared to fail, they are prepared to be criticized and they are prepared that the initial races do not depict their final potentiality. However, the assumption in the team is undying that this alliance shall bear fruit. To fans, it is not this vague, since the road will be rough initially, yet Red Bull are gambling that patience, creativity and support of Ford will eventually see them be back at the top of the engine grid in Formula 1.
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