F1 2026 launches: Red Bull, Racing Bulls to hold livery reveals for new rules era with Ford in January
Red Bull and Racing Bulls to reveal car liveries for 2026 season - the first featuring radical new engine and chassis rules - at Ford event in Detroit in mid-January; F1 testing begins with private session in Barcelona from January 26 before double-header in Bahrain from February 11
Tuesday 11 November 2025 19:32, UK
Red Bull's two Formula 1 teams will launch their new 2026 car liveries for the first season of the sport's new rules era together in January at a Ford event in Detroit to kick off their new engine partnership with the American car giant.
Pre-season ahead of 2026's 24-race campaign begins just weeks into the new year owing to the scale of the changes being introduced to power units and chassis regulations over the winter.
Testing has been expanded from one to three sessions with the first of three tests taking place in Barcelona, behind closed doors, from January 26-30.
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Some teams are likely to hold season launch events before heading to Spain, even if their 2026 cars themselves are not revealed fully until around the time of the two subsequent tests in Bahrain from mid-February.
Red Bull and Racing Bulls are the first teams with January plans confirmed with the reveal of their respective 2026 liveries to feature as part of new partner Ford's season launch event for their racing entities at Michigan Central Station in Detroit on January 15.
It will be the first time the two teams will feature in such an event together.
Red Bull, who have used Honda engines since 2019, have established their own powertrains division for F1's new engine format and, in conjunction with Ford, are producing their own power unit for the first time to run across the two teams they own.
F1's V6 turbo engines will feature a 50-50 split between the internal combustion engine and electrical power for the first time, with nearly a 300 per cent increase in the latter. Cars will also run on 100 per cent sustainable fuel.
Ford is returning to F1 after a 22-year absence and Mark Rushbrook, Ford Racing's global director, said: "For the first time, Red Bull will introduce their two Formula 1 teams at one event, and I can tell you, Ford is very much at the heart of this project.
"This Red Bull launch is a celebration of a journey that has been several years in the making. It's the official introduction of the Red Bull Ford Powertrains unit - the heart of Ford's return to the pinnacle of motorsport.
"With Formula 1's incredible global growth, a new and diverse fanbase, and the 2026 regulations' focus on sustainable fuels and electric power, the technical challenge has never been greater - or more aligned with our vision for the future of automotive performance.
"Since we announced our return to F1 with Red Bull, the team has been working night and day to get ready for 2026. But this is about so much more than just the racing. It is about how we use our learnings from F1 to make our cars and trucks better for our customers.
"What we will learn together with Red Bull will define the technologies of the future and that is what excites me most about this relationship."
Speaking exclusively to Sky Sports News in September in a joint interview with Ford CEO Jim Farley, Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies admitted the new start-up engine project was a "massive undertaking" but that the two parties were leaving no stone unturned in order to take on established manufacturers Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and, from 2026, Audi.
"We are respectful enough of the competition to say, 'if these guys have been doing it for 50 years, 60 or 70 years, it's starting from zero, getting all our people, getting all the process right, all the infrastructure and it is going to take some time'," said Mekies.
"We do it the Red Bull-Ford way. Therefore, we do it at a top level in every area. It's not about who is going to be the best team in Barcelona testing in January, but it's about who will get the project right and who will develop the project."
Max Verstappen is the only driver yet confirmed in a seat at either of Red Bull's two teams for next season, with a decision on the rest of the line-up now expected towards, or at, the end of the season in December.
Yuki Tsunoda is Verstappen's current team-mate but his struggles in the seat mean he faces serious competition from Isack Hadjar, who has impressed in his rookie season at Racing Bulls. Should Tsunoda be replaced, then the Japanese driver is set to be up against incumbent Liam Lawson and junior driver Arvid Lindblad, the 18-year-old British rising star currently competing in F2, for the two drives at Racing Bulls.
The F1 2026 schedule
Pre-season testing
Test One (private test)
January 26-30: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Test Two
February 11-13: Bahrain International Circuit
Test Three
February 18-20: Bahrain International Circuit
Race calendar
March 6-8: Australian Grand Prix
March 13-15: Chinese Grand Prix (Sprint weekend)
March 27- 29: Japanese Grand Prix
April 10-12: Bahrain Grand Prix
April 17-19: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
May 1-3: Miami Grand Prix (Sprint weekend)
May 22-24: Canadian Grand Prix (Sprint weekend)
June 5-7: Monaco Grand Prix
June 12-14: Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
June 26- 28: Austrian Grand Prix
July 3-5: British Grand Prix (Sprint weekend)
July 17-19: Belgian Grand Prix
July 24-26: Hungarian Grand Prix
August 21-23: Dutch Grand Prix (Sprint weekend)
September 4-6: Italian Grand Prix
September 11-13: Spanish Grand Prix (Madrid)
September 24-26: Azerbaijan Grand Prix*
October 9-11: Singapore Grand Prix (Sprint weekend)
October 23-25: United States Grand Prix
October 30 - November 1: Mexico City Grand Prix
November 6-8: Sao Paulo Grand Prix
November 20-22: Las Vegas Grand Prix
November 27-29: Qatar Grand Prix
December 4-6: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
*grand prix to be held on Saturday
