Ford celebrates 'landmark' first podium of Red Bull engine partnership

The first podium for the Red Bull Ford power unit at the Canadian Grand Prix is a significant achievement that shows the strength of the partnership, according to Ford’s global director of racing Mark Rushbrook.

Red Bull opted to set up its own power unit program for the 2026 regulations following former partner Honda’s initial announcement that it would quit Formula 1 at the end of 2021. After discussions with multiple manufacturers, Red Bull joined forces with Ford for the project, and its first power unit has proven competitive, with Max Verstappen finishing a strong third in Montreal to return the Ford name to the podium for the first time since Giancarlo Fisichella’s victory for Jordan in Brazil in 2003.

“Seeing Max secure a first podium of the Red Bull Ford Powertrains era is a landmark moment for our partnership,” Rushbrook said. “It has been fantastic to witness the remarkable effort that has gone into the preparation for the 2026 season, and this result is a well-earned marker of the efforts of both Oracle Red Bull Racing and Ford Racing.

“The progress we have seen across the board for all four cars across the Oracle Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls teams, powered by Red Bull Ford Powertrains both in the build up to and during the season has been special to witness. We cannot wait to see where the rest of the season takes us off the back of today’s milestone.”

Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson also secured season-best finishes – with Hadjar in fifth place and Lawson seventh – and Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies was encouraged by the ongoing progress from the package as a whole.

“Big picture, I see, at the very least, we confirmed the Miami steps,” Mekies said. “I think we've done a bit more than the Miami step. I think we have managed to take a bit of performance away from the top guys. Just looking at the lap time now, it was three tenths in qualifying, but I think [in the race] we were a bit closer than the half a second deficit that we had in Miami.

“In Miami, we finished 40 seconds from the win. So I think it was a bit closer here. Now, there is probably no reason to get too excited in a way that you could also have a track layout effect. It's a track that could be forgiving for certain aspects of the car.

“But I think at the very least, again, we confirmed Miami. I think the guys managed to get something more. And if you consider that competition had another flow of updates this weekend, I think it's just confirming that we are going in the right direction with the development.”