A team that made history, Ford's return to F1

A few days ago Ford's return to the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship became official. Many years have passed since with the Ford Cosworth DFV (Double Four Valve), the most successful and longest-lived engine in the history of Formula 1, the homonymous American company dominated the top automotive series. At the time, Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth (founders of Cosworth, from the union of their surnames) started from the FVA - another Ford engine, which had already tasted the Formula 2 track - to develop the DFV, as part of a project in which Ford invested 100,000 pounds. From the resulting product, a story studded with triumphs took shape, starting in Holland with Jim Clark's Lotus and ending in Detroit with Michele Alboreto's Tyrrell - respectively the first one and the last one to win a race with Ford Cosworth DFV - for a total of 155 GPs, 12 drivers' championships and 10 constructors' championships won over a period of 17 years, more precisely from 1967 to 1983 (the engine was then used again for the 1988 Brazilian GP).

It is therefore easy to understand why the recent announcement of Ford's return to the track in the series that constitutes the highest expression of motor racing has aroused such a stir among enthusiasts. Stefano Domenicali and Ben Sulayem - respectively president and CEO of Formula 1 and president of the FIA ​​- welcomed this renewed partnership with great enthusiasm, emphasizing both on the objectives linked to sustainability and on the prestigious sporting history of which Ford was a protagonist. Bill Ford himself, executive president of the Dearborn-based company, said he was very excited at the idea of ​​embarking on this new adventure in the history of motorsport, emblem of Ford's determination to return to the racing firmament, combining tradition and innovation in a new context that makes of sustainability and electrification its pillars. And everything leads us to believe that the will of the management of the US giant is actually to exploit such a prestigious sporting showcase to establish itself as a protagonist in the sustainable revolution that is affecting the world of engines in general and that, especially from 2026 with the new regulations, will be even more importance also in the panorama of Formula 1.

The event becomes even greater looking to the partnership between Ford and Red Bull (which will naturally also extend to Alpha Tauri). From 2026, in fact, Ford will be the technical partner of the world champion team, alongside which it will walk for at least the following four years and with which work will begin as early as 2023 on the new generation hybrid power unit, which will include a 350 kW electric motor and one with combustion capable of feeding itself entirely through sustainable fuels.

The news is very important not only from a sporting point of view, but it should be noted that in an increasingly transitional era towards sustainable technologies, Ford is returning to the circuit riding the wave of general appreciation that is accompanying Formula 1, in full of an explosion process both among the crowds and on the markets (primarily in the United States, with the new GP in Miami and Las Vegas), ready to give great emotions once again.