Arvid Lindblad of Great Britain driving the (41) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 03 RB Ford and Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (3) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB22 Red Bull Ford practice their race start procedures during day three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 20, 2026.Mark Thompson/Getty Images
If you want context for what’s happening in Formula One right now, go back to 2008. That winter, as the global financial crisis tightened like a ratchet, three manufacturer teams reached for the same lever: exit.
In December 2008, Honda was the first to leave the sport, saying it would withdraw “in light of the quickly deteriorating operating environment facing the global auto industry.” Less than a year later, BMW and Toyota followed suit.
Different boardrooms, same logic: When the core business is under threat, a super-expensive racing program becomes the easiest “non-essential” line item to delete. That’s the memory worth dragging into 2026.
We’re not in a 2008-style global economic meltdown. But, if you work in the car business today, you don’t need a recession to feel the ground moving under your feet. Tariffs or the threat of tariffs can turn a supply chain into a house of cards. Electrification remains a moving target: timelines shift, incentives change, demand zigzags and every product plan has a “Plan B” hiding in the margins.
Pick a week, not just a headline, and there’s a reason to tighten spending. If an automaker wanted to leave Formula One, it could make a tidy, defensible case – and win the argument in the boardroom. And yet, the opposite is happening.
The subtext heading into the season-opener in Australia this weekend: If F1 had become indefensible, you’d see it in the entries first. Instead, team valuations keep climbing and the series has more direct manufacturer involvement than in years.
Arvid Lindblad of Great Britain driving the (41) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 03 RB Ford on track during day three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 20, 2026.Sona Maleterova/Getty Images
Motor City methodology: Ford’s return isn’t decorative
Red Bull Ford Powertrains chose Michigan Central Station – the restored Beaux-Arts landmark Ford bought in 2018 and reopened last summer – for its launch. The event had the expected choreography: dramatic lighting, familiar faces and two liveries for the Ford-powered teams, Oracle Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls.
One line sounded less like sponsorship and more like ownership. “When I first saw the new liveries … I didn’t see a marketing asset,” said Will Ford, Ford Racing general manager and great-great-grandson of Henry Ford. “I saw my family’s name back on a global stage where we have unfinished business.”
It’s not lost on anyone in the paddock that Ford’s last official presence in Formula One was in 2004. Back then, the company owned Jaguar Racing and ran Ford Cosworth engines. At season’s end, the team was sold to Red Bull, which makes the new partnership feel oddly circular.
Red Bull and Ford reveal the 2026 livery for both F1 cars, including this Visa Cash App Racing Bulls car at the restored Michigan Central Station in Detroit in January 2026.Mark Hacking/The Globe and Mail
The quote works because it’s human, but it hints at the real point. Ford didn’t return to F1 to put a logo on a sidepod. It returned by tying its name to the power unit – the most consequential part of the new era – alongside a team that expects to win. That matters because in 2026, the “engine” is really the whole system: battery output, control software, cooling and energy use over a given lap.
This is why the return of Ford reads more like a bet than a cameo.
“We are supporting the development of a power unit that is a high-voltage marvel,” said Will Ford during the Detroit launch in January. “This isn’t a hobby. This is the drama of the sport – the late nights and the brutal technical hurdles of building a solution that can survive the most demanding tracks on the planet.”
Nico Hulkenberg of Germany driving the (27) Audi F1 Team R26 on track during day three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 20, 2026.Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
The new rules, in plain English
The 2026 Formula One season represents a complete reset: chassis, aerodynamics and the hybrid powertrain formula all change at once. Some observers have called this the most significant rules change in a generation. It’s the kind of rule change that can reward teams – and manufacturers – that arrive with a clean baseline.
The cars are smaller and lighter. Active aerodynamics at the front and back replace the drag reduction system approach. Under the engine cover, the shift is even more consequential. The turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 stays, but it now runs exclusively on sustainable fuel.
More pointedly, electrification moves from supporting actor to co-lead: at peak, the split is designed to be roughly half combustion and half electric. That’s where the road-car argument finally gets teeth. Modern performance is systems integration: batteries, power electronics, software, cooling, packaging and the discipline to manage energy over time.
Then there’s the part that killed F1 programs in 2008-09: the bill.
F1 is still expensive, but it’s no longer an open-ended shopping spree. Budget restrictions and financial regulations, including a team cost cap, have lowered the temperature. They haven’t made F1 cheap; they’ve made it more legible. That distinction matters inside manufacturer boardrooms: a racing program you can model and cap is one you can defend to all stakeholders.
Audi has been unusually explicit about the appeal. “Of course, Formula 1 is pure emotion,” said Audi chief executive officer Gernot Döllner in a press release. “However, Audi is entering with a clear rationale behind it. The cost cap ensures financial sustainability, while the global reach of F1 offers unmatched brand visibility.”
That’s the business case: global reach, controlled spend and a rulebook that rewards the same thinking automakers are already focused on. It’s also why the manufacturer list is growing.
Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Cadillac F1 Team Ferrari on track during day three of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 20, 2026.Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
This year’s manufacturer moves
The new manufacturers are arriving through different doors.
As noted, Ford is back in the deepest way short of owning a team outright: name on the power unit, engineering expectations, shouldering the consequences.
Another engine manufacturer, Honda, returns, but not with its old partner, Red Bull. A brand with a real legacy in F1 has switched to Aston Martin, where the relationship can be built around integration rather than convenience. In a fresh engine cycle, that can be a competitive advantage, but pre-season testing suggests the learning curve is real.
A brand-new team, Cadillac arrives using Ferrari technology to get on the grid and get credible, while building toward a longer-term factory footprint. It’s not romantic but it’s smart. New teams don’t win by insisting on doing everything themselves on Day 1.
“I’ve worked with Ferrari a number of times before,” said Graeme Lowdon, Cadillac F1 team principal to Sky Sports. “They’re great partners … They don’t just provide us with a power unit, they provide us with some technical support in terms of people who join the team … It’s great to have them on board."
In effect, Audi is a “new” team in the corporate sense, having taken over the Sauber team. Still, it’s a bold move because the team is engineering the whole program in-house. Audi joined F1 because this was the best moment to arrive with a factory program and a rulebook reset.
Lastly, Toyota is taking the “be involved without being exposed” path in its title sponsorship and technical partnership with Haas. Far from a massive commitment, it’s a way back into the F1 paddock that still leaves options open for the future.
Of course, the old guard remains the infrastructure of the sport. Ferrari powers its factory team, as well as customer teams Haas and Cadillac. Mercedes supplies its own works team and defending constructors’ champions McLaren, in addition to Williams and Alpine.
In 2008, the industry cut first. In 2026, it’s cutting cheques because F1 finally offers a rulebook and a cost structure that can be defended.