In February 2021, Red Bull Advanced Technologies signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Honda covering Formula One engines from the 2022 season onwards. The arrangement was necessitated by Honda's decision to withdraw from Formula One after 2021, leaving its two partner teams, Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, without an engine supplier. Under the terms of the agreement, engines were to be purchased from Honda, rebadged as Red Bull Powertrains units, and supplied to both teams.
Honda continued to maintain a significant operational role under the new arrangement, assembling the power units and providing trackside and race operation support through to the end of 2025. The intellectual property of the engines remained with Honda throughout this period. Because the FIA engine development freeze came into effect in September 2022, Red Bull Powertrains had no authority to develop the engines and operated essentially as a management and distribution entity for Honda technology.
The company operates from a 5,000-square-foot facility near the Red Bull Racing chassis department in Milton Keynes.
On 23 April 2021, Red Bull Powertrains announced the appointment of Ben Hodgkinson as technical director. Hodgkinson had been head of mechanical engineering at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains since 2017 and had spent twenty years working at the Brixworth facility. In May 2021, Red Bull Racing announced five additional senior hires from Mercedes: Steve Blewett as production director, Omid Mostaghimi as chief of engine electronics and energy recovery, Pip Clode as head of mechanical design for energy recovery, Anton Mayo as head of combustion power unit design, and Steve Brodie as leader of combustion engine operations. The concentration of experienced Mercedes engine personnel attracted significant attention across the paddock.
The first power unit to carry RBPT branding was the RBPTH001, introduced for the 2022 season. Despite its designation, the unit was developed, produced and maintained entirely by Honda. It was derived from the Honda RA621H used in 2021, modified to accommodate the new E10 biofuel blend mandated from 2022. The adaptations included revised ignition timing, altered cylinder pressure settings, and changes to the MGU-H. The crankshaft and cylinder block geometry were modified to ensure reliability when running on E10 fuel, and a specialised coating developed by Honda's motorcycle division was applied to the cylinder walls. The injection system, exhaust system, and the compressor and turbine elements of the turbocharger were all optimised for E10 fuel use.
Although the RBPTH001 was heavier than the RA621H as a result of these changes, its external dimensions were virtually identical to the predecessor unit, with differences limited to the exhaust and intake layout and certain electrical components. The engine could operate at noticeably higher temperatures than the RA621H. Despite the reduced energy density inherent in E10 fuel compared with the blends previously used, the RBPTH001 achieved greater thermal efficiency than its predecessor.
In October 2022, Honda announced a formal strengthening of its partnership with Red Bull Racing, confirming that it would maintain total oversight of the engines through the end of the 2025 season. Honda's logo reappeared on Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri cars from the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix onwards, acknowledging the depth of the continuing relationship.
In February 2023, Red Bull Racing and the Ford Motor Company announced a strategic partnership for the 2026 season, when new Formula One engine regulations were due to come into effect. Ford committed to contributing expertise in battery cell technology, electric motor technology, power unit control software, analytics and combustion engine development. Following this agreement, the company was renamed Red Bull Ford Powertrains for the 2026 season and rebranded to launch the DM01 power unit in January 2026, named after Red Bull GmbH founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who died in October 2022.
Red Bull Powertrains represented an unprecedented step for a Formula One team: the construction of an in-house engine operation capable of eventually replacing a works manufacturer partner. The 2022-to-2025 period, during which the team raced Honda-derived units under its own branding while quietly building the engineering workforce and infrastructure for genuine power unit development, provided the foundation for the independent operation that followed under the Ford partnership from 2026.