Dearborn — Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has been on one of the world’s most prestigious and popular motorsports stages many times, but on Wednesday he was just excited to get behind the wheel.
“I’m just excited to drive something,” joked Ricciardo, speaking in front of an audience of Ford Motor Co. employees. “I haven’t driven in a few months, so I might be a little rusty.”
Ricciardo’s stop at Ford World Headquarters was part of an agenda that also included visits to the M1 Concourse in Pontiac with Ford CEO Jim Farley to drive some Ford vehicles, and a look at future products at the automaker’s design studio.
The visit by Ricciardo and other members of the Red Bull team was a chance to interact with Ford employees who are excited to support them in the F1 team’s just-announced partnership with the Dearborn automaker, and for the Red Bull team members to immerse themselves in Ford’s culture, said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports.
Ford announced Friday that it is making its Formula 1 racing comeback after a 20-year hiatus. It’s partnering with Red Bull, the reigning F1 champion, setting up a rivalry with crosstown rival General Motors Co. and Andretti Autosport.
Ford’s reason for staging an F1 comeback is two-fold, said Rushbrook.
The first is what he described as a two-way technology transfer benefitting both Ford and Red Bull. F1 gives manufacturers an opportunity to refine their product development chops and technologies amid the automotive industry’s electric transition.
The other is marketing. F1 — which comprises 23 grand prix events on five continents and draws hundreds of millions of television viewers — has a diverse fan base that spans the globe. The sport has gained popularity in recent years, particularly in the United States, in part thanks to the popularity of the Netflix series “Drive to Survive.”
Red Bull and Ford are launching a strategic partnership in which they will work together to develop a hybrid power unit for the Oracle Red Bull team starting in 2026.
“We don’t go racing just to go racing. We go to win — but we also go for the two-way tech transfer,” Rushbrook said. “With what Formula 1 and the FIA have done for the future of the sport, going to sustainable fuel in 2026, net-zero carbon by 2030, a change to the power unit regulations for 2026 with more electrification — we can take what we’ve learned about electrified vehicles … (and) bring all that to Red Bull Ford powertrains to help in developing that power unit, to contribute to the future success of that. We can learn from that. And then we go race, we can bring all that knowledge and experience back, stronger than what we took there, to apply it to our road vehicles.”
For Martha MacLachlan, who works in Ford’s diversity, equity and inclusion office, her employer’s return to F1 is “like a dream come true,” she said. She first was introduced to F1 when her parents took her to the Mexico Grand Prix, kicking off a decades-long love for motorsports. She’s a fan of Formula 1 and of Red Bull driver Sergio “Checo” Perez in particular.
“As a Ford employee, Ford returning to the pinnacle of motor racing is just super exciting,” she said.
Ricciardo, who is from Australia, made his Formula 1 debut in 2011. He was part of Red Bull’s team from 2014-18 before teaming up with Renault and then McLaren. This year marks his return to the Red Bull team as a third driver, a role that will see him serving in a supporting capacity.
“To be a part of this journey back into Formula 1 I think is really cool,” he said. “I’m excited to see where it goes and how far it can take us.”
jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @JGrzelewski