Ford not interested in joining F1

Many people within Formula One and around the sport believe that one of F1’s weaknesses is its lack of engine suppliers and manufacturers.

The current landscape in Formula One is dominated by three engine manufacturers.

They are the German car giant Mercedes, the luxury Italian super car power that is Ferrari and French manufacturer Renault.

The sports shift from aspirated V8 engines to the current Turbo-Hybrid V6 power-unit’s also enticed Japanese manufacturer Honda back to the sport as a partner with McLaren.

But apart from McLaren, all the other teams are supplied engines via either Mercedes, Ferrari or Renault.

Whilst the move to Turbo-Hybrid V6 power-unit’s, dragged the sport into modern times and made the technology actually relevant to manufacturing, the rules and regulations were drawn up by committee and as such are unnecessarily complicated and expensive.

The current engine regulations are also set in place until 2020, again due in part to the mass investment the engine suppliers have made in making power-units within the current rules and guidelines.

This has thus far, put off other manufacturers entering the sport.

It is thought that discussions with potential new manufacturers, keen to enter the sport, could be involved in drawing up new regulations for 2021 and beyond, but American giant Ford appear to not be one of them.

‘We’re not really looking at F1. I don’t see us getting into that any time soon. Director of Ford Performance Dave Pericak told motorsport.com.

Ford have not been involved in Formula One since 2004, but are currently competing in GT supercars, WRC and World Rallycross.

‘Formula 1 is so expensive. If you look at every series we are in right now there is a relevance to all the goals and objectives we have, in developing our tools, technology and people and translating that into road cars. Every series that we’re in has an element of that.’

‘We use the track to test and improve our technologies, and bring it back into the road cars, That’s working well, not just on the GT but other products as well.