In a Detroit roundtable, Ford CEO Jim Farley and Red Bull Racing CEO Laurent Mekies outlined a multi-year partnership that began in 2021 and now involves a $60 million joint investment in powertrain development. The collaboration has produced four prototype V6 hybrid engines that have undergone over 10,000 dyno test hours, delivering a 12% increase in thermal efficiency compared with Ford’s previous benchmark. Farley noted that the next phase will expand simulation facilities at Ford’s Dearborn campus, with an additional $20 million allocated for high-speed wind tunnel upgrades by the end of 2024.

According to Ford, the knowledge transfer from Formula 1 has directly supported the creation of 500 new skilled positions across three Michigan facilities. Engineers trained on F1 telemetry analytics now apply those tools to Ford’s electric vehicle programs, accelerating battery-pack development by an estimated 15%. Ford reports that the integration of F1 real-time data processing has reduced average prototype validation cycles from 10 weeks to 7 weeks, a time-to-market improvement that Farley said will underpin future U.S. production of performance EV models.

Farley highlighted that steel and aluminum tariffs of up to 25% imposed in 2018 increased Ford’s raw-material costs by roughly $200 million annually, prompting a strategic shift toward domestic supply chains. He emphasized that the company’s current U.S. steel sourcing rate stands at 92%, compared with 78% in 2017, reducing susceptibility to external tariff changes. Looking ahead, Ford plans to secure long-term contracts with five American mills, covering 80% of its expected 2025 sheet-steel needs, a move designed to stabilize input costs and support its $50 billion EV investment roadmap.