Jackie Stewart founded Stewart Grand Prix in 1997; Ford purchased the operation in late 1999 and ran it as Jaguar Racing with limited success. In September 2004 Ford put the team up for sale, and Red Bull GmbH agreed a purchase on 15 November 2004, reportedly for a symbolic sum of one US dollar in exchange for a commitment to invest 400 million dollars over three Grand Prix seasons. Christian Horner was appointed team principal, and David Coulthard and Christian Klien were signed as drivers. The team initially retained the Cosworth engine Jaguar had used for 2005.
Red Bull's debut season with the Cosworth-powered RB1 exceeded expectations; the team finished seventh in the Constructors' Championship, outscoring the combined Jaguar Racing totals of 2003 and 2004 in a single year, with Coulthard achieving a first podium at Monaco in 2006 under Ferrari power. For 2006 the team switched to customer Ferrari V8 engines. They finished seventh in the Constructors' standings.
For 2007 Red Bull switched to customer Renault engines and signed Mark Webber to partner Coulthard. The signing of Adrian Newey as technical director in November 2005 proved transformative; his designs became progressively more competitive. Sebastian Vettel replaced Coulthard for 2009, and the Newey-designed RB5 delivered Red Bull's first race victory at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix.
A period of sustained dominance followed. Red Bull won four consecutive Drivers' and Constructors' Championships from 2010 to 2013, all with Vettel, who became the youngest triple and then quadruple World Champion. The team became the first Austrian-licenced constructor to win the Formula One World Championship. During these years Vettel set records for most pole positions in a single season (15 in 2011, breaking Nigel Mansell's 1992 record) and most consecutive race victories (nine in 2013). The RB9 won 13 of 19 races in 2013, with Vettel alone winning 13 events.
Relations with Renault deteriorated sharply from 2014 as the hybrid power unit era began and the Renault unit proved uncompetitive and unreliable. Red Bull won no races in 2015, their first winless season since 2008. From 2016 the Renault engine was rebadged as TAG Heuer following the public breakdown between the parties. Max Verstappen joined from Toro Rosso mid-2016 and won the Spanish Grand Prix on debut, becoming the youngest Formula One race winner. Daniel Ricciardo departed after 2018 for Renault.
Red Bull switched to works Honda power for 2019, ending a twelve-year relationship with Renault. The partnership grew steadily more competitive, culminating in 2021 when Verstappen won his first World Drivers' Championship in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix finale with a last-lap overtake on Lewis Hamilton. The team was found to have committed a minor financial overspend breach of the 2021 cost cap, resulting in a seven-million-dollar fine and a ten-percent reduction in permitted aerodynamic testing.
Honda officially withdrew from works participation after 2021 but continued to manufacture and supply engines under a new arrangement, branded Red Bull Powertrains, through the end of 2025. Verstappen won successive Drivers' Championships in 2022, 2023, and 2024. In 2022 Red Bull also took the Constructors' Championship, and in 2023 the team achieved one of the most dominant seasons in Formula One history: the RB19 won 21 of 22 races, with a win rate of 95.45 percent, surpassing the McLaren MP4/4's record from 1988. Twelve consecutive victories at one point in 2023 set a new record for most consecutive wins by a constructor.
The 2024 season saw McLaren close the gap substantially, and Red Bull lost the Constructors' title. In 2025, after Christian Horner departed mid-season and was replaced by Laurent Mekies, Verstappen missed out on a fifth Drivers' title to Lando Norris. Adrian Newey, who had been technical director for 19 years, also left the team in early 2025 for Aston Martin.
Following the conclusion of the Honda arrangement after 2025, Red Bull announced a partnership with the Ford Motor Company for the new 2026 engine regulations era. Ford returned to Formula One as a technical partner in battery, electric motor, software, and combustion development, with the power unit operation rebranded Red Bull Ford Powertrains. Isack Hadjar was promoted from Racing Bulls to partner Verstappen for 2026.
Red Bull Technology Limited is the parent company of Red Bull Racing, also overseeing technical resource sharing with the sister team. Red Bull Advanced Technologies, a separate commercial engineering arm, has collaborated on the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar and the IndyCar aeroscreen safety device, and announced development of the RB17 hypercar with Adrian Newey as designer. Only 50 units of the RB17 are to be made.
The team uses rFactor Pro driving simulation software for driver development.
Sebastian Vettel won four consecutive Drivers' Championships for the team in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Max Verstappen added four more in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.