Thread by @JunaidSamodien_

AUTO MOTOR UND SPORT - Actually, Porsche should have moved into Red Bull's engine department. But the people of Stuttgart were too greedy. Ford, on the other hand, does not want any team shares - and was therefore awarded the contract.

Visiting Red Bull Ford Powertrains in Milton Keynes, where the world champions set up an engine shop within 55 weeks.

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Three engineers stare at ten screens. They study data, survey curves on their computers, they sink into it until Florian Niehaves asks from the background: "Has it cooled down?" Red Bull's Head of Power Unit Validation & Testing points to the space behind the pane.

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The three engineers nod. Niehaves clenches his right fist like Max Verstappen after a win: "Yes." The six-cylinder may just rest. We step through the dark door into the test cell, which is described as “V6 Development Dyno” – i.e. the development test bench for...

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[....] the six-cylinder turbo engine that Red Bull is building for the 2026 Formula 1 season. This engine is a declaration of independence of the team.

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This independence is so important to Red Bull that Porsche was alienated in September 2022 and fled at the altar. Instead, Red Bull will cooperate with Detroit in the future. Ford did not make the purchase of team shares a condition.

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The second largest US car manufacturer after General Motors wants to participate in the Formula 1 hype that is happening on the domestic market. Ford's ulterior motive is to push its own e-offensive, into which it is pumping 50 billion US dollars.

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This season, the premier class is driving three races in the States. The focus is particularly on the return to Las Vegas. This time, Formula 1 is really driving down the strip. Sales of half a billion dollars are hoped for at the GP in the gambling town.

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The future promises even more. The audience is getting younger, more female, more diverse. New organizers are lining up at the office of F1 boss Stefano Domenicali, who traveled to New York City to announce the deal between Red Bull and Ford in February.

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Ford wants to make its logo visible. You don't become a shareholder in Red Bull Racing, but you put the blue oval on the future engine. From 2026, new PU rules will apply in Formula 1.

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"Then it could be like Le Mans: Ford versus Ferrari," said Christian Horner. With Red Bull directing the drama. The team builds the car. The team has the patronage of the engine. To put it bluntly, Red Bull is not driving with Ford engines, but Ford will soon be driving at....

[....] all thanks to Red Bull engines. The investments in the engine department, in the staff, in the machines and tools have all been made by Red Bull.

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A gearbox on the test bench: Unfortunately, we are not allowed to photograph it from the front. Red Bull has been building its own racing cars since 2005, winning four world titles with Sebastian Vettel and two with Max Verstappen. With Renault and Honda engine.

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From 2026, Red Bull will be driving with its own powertrain. Ford may join. They drive a combustion engine, as it is hanging on dozens of cables – gray, blue, green – in front of our eyes at this moment & its exhaust gases are discharged through large pipes in the test bench room

Formula 1 teams are secretive. The number of test benches remains a secret. The competition shouldn't know what Red Bull is doing with its budget. These days, the teams beat every engine component to the point of vomiting.

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There are test benches for a cylinder, for the cylinder head, for the entire engine, for V6 with attached gearbox, for the power transmission alone, for the hydraulics, for the petrol system.

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In addition the so-called VTT. This stands for "Virtual Test Track". This is a test stand on which the entire car runs pre-programmed laps on the world's racetracks, as in a simulator. And otherwise? "The list can be continued almost endlessly," says Niehaves.

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In a test chamber, Red Bull can simulate pressures of up to 5,000 bar to check whether the fuel system can withstand the load.

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The corridor in front of the test bench chambers only gives an idea of ​​the effort that is being made here. You could eat off the gray floor in the "Rindt Building".

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Red Bull has named the main building of the engine department after the Austrian legend who became world champion in 1970 in a Lotus-Ford and raced to his death. It's cleaner in the Rindt building than in clinics. Nothing must be contaminated.

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This is taken care of in the "de-packaging room". Every part that the mechanics will later install in the engine has to go through here.S ix washbasins stand next to each other. A vacuum dryer spreads
out next to them. Red Bull wants to build many parts of the powertrain itself.

For example, the cylinder head, piston, compressor wheel, crankshaft and the MGU-K electric machine. "And the spark plugs too," interjects Steve Brodie. He's a bearded man recruited from Mercedes by Red Bull.

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He worked for the archrival for more than 20 years. Now he is the head of "combustion engine development" at Red Bull Powertrains. "There is a lot of development potential in the spark plugs." Those who burn efficiently firstly gain more power and secondly consume less fuel.

Red Bull will produce the engine parts in an outbuilding that is currently being renovated. The campus in Milton Keynes resembles a construction site in many respects. At the same time, Red Bull is building a wind tunnel that will go into operation in 2025.

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You have to let it melt in your mouth. Ferrari makes its engines for Formula 1. Mercedes and Renault do it, and so will Audi from the 2026 season. They sell all street cars. But Red Bull?

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Has energy drinks filled in cans, sponsors athletes, lets people jump from space, impresses with marketing. Red Bull has as little to do with road cars as NASA has to do with brewing cola. How do you even come up with a project like this?

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When Honda prematurely announced its exit from Formula 1 for the end of 2021 in October 2020, Red Bull initially had no engines. And did what the company stands for: think unconventionally, take risks. The team didn't want to be a customer again.

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The secondary user of a complex power unit – as the drive unit is called – has the disadvantage that the development of the car and that of the drive take place separately. You have to live with what you get instead of determining....

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[....] what's best for your concept, aerodynamics, center of gravity and weight distribution. The decision matured to set something up myself, to build my own engine. A plan was drawn up and lobbying was carried out. The plan worked.

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The FIA has put a stop to the further development of the engines since last season. He postponed the new engine regulations with an increased proportion of electricity and 100 percent sustainable petrol from 2025 to 2026.

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"I fought for that because otherwise we wouldn't have made it in time. It's a huge challenge," says Horner. Honda will continue to supply the reigning world champion with engines until the restart. The Japanese have only dropped out on paper and are already...

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[....] preparing their comeback for 2026. Yes, if only you had never officially left: Then Red Bull would have saved the high investments in their own forge. But now the "Rindt Building" is up.

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In April 2021, the conversion of an old warehouse began. The evacuation alone lasted three days. 60 percent of the roof was torn off. After 55 weeks, Red Bull inaugurated the engine factory. In June 2022, the engineers and mechanics moved in.

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In the first two months they built the first engine. They lit it in August 2022 – just before the summer break. "We met the deadline. We had to take a shortcut or two for that," reports Brodie.

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Red Bull has created something that otherwise only Ferrari has. Car and motor will soon be constructed on one site. At Mercedes, the locations for the chassis (Brackley) and engine (Brixworth) are a good three-quarters of an hour apart by car.

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Porsche would have liked to take part. The collaboration with Red Bull had already been agreed upon with a handshake, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume recently announced.

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The sports car manufacturer wanted to be more than just an assistant in building the hybrid system, as was originally intended. Porsche was not only interested in working with the engine division, but wanted to buy 50 percent of the team and thus be an equal partner.

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Porsche wanted to have a say in order not to be crushed by the marketing machine, but to get the maximum advertising effect for its own efforts. Giving up team shares was too much for the Red Bull bosses around Horner and sports director Helmut Marko.

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When Porsche, according to Red Bull circles, wanted to fill posts with its own people twice and threatened to restrict the free spirits with corporate policy, the cooperation broke down at the last moment.

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One would have been stifled in bureaucracy, it is said in Milton Keynes behind closed doors. In a last business plan before death, Dietrich Mateschitz approved of going it alone.

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But Porsche's position of not just wanting to be a "junior partner" is also understandable. A corporation has rules that the Formula 1 team should have followed.

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Red Bull dares to produce the complete power unit, i.e. combustion and electric modules, in-house. But a manufacturer who pays, supports and doesn't interfere, that's the kind of person you like to have on board.

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Ford is a welcome partner who doesn't rip off your hand at the stretching of the pinky. "The cooperation is strategically important for us," says Horner.

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"In Ford we have found the right partner with the right attitude for our project." Ford, it is officially said, should support the construction of the hybrid system. In the electric motor, in battery cell research, in the software for engine management and analytics.

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The second-largest US automaker can certainly open doors with its connections and its network – to suppliers. Engineers, in particular, are hoping to gain a great deal from this.

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Red Bull plans to build a factory for the energy recovery system by the end of the year. With the 2026 regulations, the electric power will be increased from 120 to 350 kilowatts (476 hp).

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The electric motor and combustion engine will then each contribute half to the total output of around 1,000 hp. That makes it attractive for the big manufacturers.

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Ford is, so to speak, in the nest that has been made. "We raised our engine division like a start-up," explains Horner. "We bought the equipment, brought together engineers from different companies and taught them the Red Bull philosophy.

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"We have all the specialists and all the special tools together. Ford recognized that." The US car manufacturer worked intensively on F1 for 2 years. It even considered launching its own works team. But that would have been too expensive and the chances of success too small.

Now you step into the class leader. Ford refutes the claim that it's returning primarily for marketing purposes. "We want to learn, but also give," says sporting director Mark Rushbrook. "Red Bull can draw on all the resources that Ford has."

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Ford Performance engineers to move into Milton Keynes. They should contribute know-how, but also ensure the transfer of knowledge to Detroit. "This exchange from Formula 1 to series production is finally possible again," says CEO Jim Farley.

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High-performance batteries are used in Formula 1. You can benefit from that for the development of series vehicles. Farley emphasizes another area with aerodynamics: "Red Bull has the best aerodynamicists in the world."

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Red Bull has the hat, Ford opens doors, provides technical support and brings money - although not nearly as much as Porsche would have done. The development of a power unit is outrageously expensive. Expenditure on the engine side will be capped for the first time this year.

"Without a cost ceiling for the power unit, this project would not have been possible," says Horner. The engine builders are allowed to invest around 100 million US dollars - plus or minus a few million, depending on the classification.

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The established manufacturers such as Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault are allowed to spend a little less than Red Bull-Ford or, in particular, Audi, which is brand new to the scene.

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The construction of the engine is difficult to finance through sponsors because the engine is hidden under the hood. Red Bull wants to cross-finance the costs through many willing partners on the car.

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"We hope that we will break even in 2027 or 2028 so that we are not in the red for the car and engine together," says Horner.

Red Bull-Ford Powertrains currently has 350 employees. One wants to grow to 450 to 470 employees. We make another detour to the "ICE Build Room".

This is where the Internal Combustion Engine – i.e. the burner – is screwed together. Ten six-cylinders can be assembled in ten stations. Red Bull has set up its engine department in such a way that theoretically two additional teams could be supplied with engines in addition....

[....] to itself and sister AlphaTauri. McLaren boss Zak Brown has already been guided through the new engine factory. In Red Bull's new division, all the clocks are set to 2026. Sounds like a lot of time, but given the complexity of the topic, it really isn't.

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Red Bull is already using the coming season to prepare: the "Operations Room" was inaugurated during the tests in Bahrain and the first race. There are two screens in each of 18 seats. In the future, all data on the power unit in the factory will come together here.

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This allows the engineers to support their team from home. The chassis department runs its own "operations room" where, for example, driving dynamics, aerodynamics, tires and strategy are looked at. Nothing is left to chance in Formula 1.

STORY HERE auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/red-b…