Ford in Formula One

About Ford in Formula One

The Ford Motor Company, an American car manufacturer, has participated in Formula One in various forms since the 1960s. Ford-badged engines have won 176 Grands Prix, 10 Constructors' Championships and 13 Drivers' Championships, ranking third in Formula One history. Throughout its history in the series, Ford's involvement has been through partnerships with specialist manufacturers, with a focus on marketing rather than technical involvement. Although Ford engines started seven races between 1963 and 1966, it was in 1967 when Ford officially entered Formula One as an engine supplier through its partnership with Cosworth, introducing the Ford-Cosworth DFV engine. The DFV – developed by Cosworth, with Ford providing funding – won on its debut at the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix with Lotus' Jim Clark and claimed its first Drivers' and Constructors' Championships in 1968 with Graham Hill and Lotus-Ford. The DFV was powerful, reliable, light, compact, easy to work with and relatively affordable, becoming the most popular engine of its era with the majority of teams using it from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.