19 January 2024 , 17:08
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Lewis Hamilton has been given reason to fear his wish for an eighth Formula 1 title may never come true after the Ford CEO sent a warning to all of Red Bull's rivals.
Red Bull currently race with Honda-branded engines. But it is their aerodynamic strength which is most credited with the dominance of the last two title victories secured.
And that advantage looks to be locked in for possibly the next two seasons. Rivals fear that 2026, when new car regulations come into force, will provide the first genuine opportunity to dethrone the Milton Keynes-based squad.
That year will also be the first of a new partnership between Red Bull and the Ford Motor Company. The F1 champions are, for the first time, building their own engines through the Powertrains project and have teamed up with Ford on that project.
Jim Farley, chief executive of the American carmaker, has spent some time in Buckinghamshire to cast his eye over how the project is coming along. And, speaking at a Ford event, he declared himself delighted with the "top notch" work being done on the new engine.
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"I had a chance to spend a lot of time with the team in Milton Keynes and and with [Red Bull design guru] Adrian Newey," he said. "Even though [2026] sounds like a long way away, we have a lot of work to do on the powertrain. But I'm really happy with the progress. I wish I could tell you more, but I would say we're on track.
"We've got the best drivers, we've got the best technical support. We have the best of Ford and around the globe to support them. But the team, the powertrain team that they're building in Milton Keynes, is absolutely top notch. We are going first class to the very top of the podium."
Building an F1 engine is an entirely new experience for Christian Horner and his staff. Speaking to Planet F1, he shared a similar message to Farley in that there is still plenty of work to be done over the next two years to get the new engine ready to beat the competition by the time the 2026 season gets under way.
He said: "There's 24 months before that engine will be being bolted into the back of the RB22. It's not that long in the engine world, so there's still an awful lot more to do in a very short period of time. But I'm confident that we've got the right people, and we can get there.
"We're not going to go into detail yet of where we're at, but we're on a trajectory. But we've got a lot of ground to cover and a lot of ground to make up - we're competing against manufacturers that have decades of experience. Red Bull, 30 months ago, this project was still embryonic. So what's been achieved in 13 months has been outstanding."