Ford’s first Formula 1 race in two decades is still a year away, but testing is already in full swing — and it’s out of this world.
Applying testing methods like those used in the aerospace industry, the team is rapidly producing 3D-printed parts for the racing team leading up to the partnership’s 2026 on-track debut.
“It’s not things like nuts and bolts and easy stuff,” said Ford Performance Motorsports Powertrain Manager Christian Hertrich, who estimated Ford has already produced around 1,000 parts for the Red Bull team. “These are complex metal and polymer parts that get tested to extremes so they can withstand races that average 200 miles an hour.”
Keith Ferrell works on Ford’s manufacturing technology development team and leads the relationship between Ford and the Red Bull team related to additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. He said this level of 3D printing allows Ford to print parts for racing that cannot be made by traditional methods.
These include cold plates for batteries and cooling plates for other parts. Ford is utilizing its more than 100 years of manufacturing expertise to produce components for the power unit, including both the internal combustion engine and hybrid system.
Every part is tested within the additive manufacturing team for critical measures such as mechanical strength, hardness and geometric compliance (3D scanned). But they also must be X-rayed and CT scanned by the Non-Destructive Evaluation team, which creates and examines digital models of components, before heading to the metrology, or measurement lab, at Ford’s Product Development Center.
Hertrich said that contributions are coming from employees outside of additive manufacturing, including those responsible for new vehicle models, thermal systems, and battery development.
“We’re pulling in all of these Ford teams with all of these areas of expertise to help in the program,” he said. “It’s not just the motorsport group working on this. It’s amazing to see how many different areas of the company have already been involved.”
Ferrell said this increased testing is trickling down to other Ford teams for testing on the parts used in consumer models.
One concrete example of how this technology transfer is already benefiting Ford’s production vehicles can be seen on the F-150 program. The Non-Destructive Engineering team used advanced scanning techniques to quickly identify a glue overflow issue in headlamps that caused condensation and pricey repairs. It was a problem that had eluded traditional inspection methods for months but was uncovered in just one day of testing.
Ford now looks to expand these rigorous quality control processes to other models to improve vehicle reliability.
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