Ford Racing and Red Bull Racing hosted a joint Launch Week experience in Detroit, celebrating their historic F1 powertrain partnership and bringing fans closer to the biggest stories of the 2026 Race Season.
Looking to kick off the 2026 Race Season, Ford Racing faced a huge challenge. How do you celebrate 125 years as America’s Race Team, attract new fans and followers around the globe, and reveal the first-ever Ford Racing production vehicle – while also marking Ford’s hotly anticipated return to Formula 1 in partnership with Red Bull Racing?
The answer was the most ambitious Season Launch event Ford Racing had ever attempted.
Working alongside Ford Racing, Red Bull Racing, and stakeholders from across Ford Motor Company, Imagination spent months shaping a week-long launch experience in Detroit that brought thousands of employees, creators, and global media together in one place. The goal was simple but bold: bring the story of the 2026 Race Season to life in a way that honoured Ford Racing’s legacy while setting the tone for what comes next.
Across the week, Detroit became the backdrop for a series of public, media, and employee moments. Ford Racing took over the Detroit Auto Show, including a media reveal of the off-road performance-tuned Bronco RTR. The centrepiece of the week was a joint Ford Racing and Red Bull Season Launch event at the iconic Michigan Central Station, hosted by Dax Shepard, where large-scale projections transformed the building inside and out.
At the same time, Ford employees around the world were brought into the experience through dedicated watch parties spanning 10 locations across 8 countries. The week also marked a major milestone with the unveiling of Ford Racing’s first-ever production vehicle, the Mustang Dark Horse SC, alongside Red Bull trick riders, custom merchandise pop-ups, and a constant rhythm of live moments designed to surprise and engage.
The response reflected the scale of the ambition. The event livestream reached 11.5 million views, making it the highest-reaching Ford Racing livestream in the past three years. Across social platforms, Ford Racing and Red Bull Racing content generated a combined 133 million views, while merchandise sales exceeded $222,000, breaking all previous Ford Racing records.
Jay Ward, Global Director of Ford Racing Communications, and Jeannee Kirkaldy, Global Marketing Manager at Ford Racing, said: “Our Ford Racing Season Launch for 2026 was by far our most ambitious program ever in our 125-year history. To deliver such an event, we needed the best talent possible from around the world and the team at Imagination were the obvious choice to deliver an event of this scale. Planning started a year out and from day one, the Imagination team tackled the project with their customary passion and eye for excellence. From the impactful projection on the outside of the iconic Station at Michigan Central to the finer details of seamlessly managing a complex program featuring drivers, executives, celebrities, and live reveal moments, the team delivered. Overall, the event achieved record results in terms of media and social coverage and gave Ford Racing the perfect stage to kick off our busiest year ever, including our return to F1 with Oracle Red Bull Racing and the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. We are so grateful to Imagination for their creativity, their hard work and their top-class delivery of this incredible project.”
Jennifer Grace, Executive Director at Imagination Detroit, said: “This wasn’t just an event, it was a declaration of partnership. When collaboration is truly the cornerstone, you can create something special. Together, we brought 125 years of Ford Racing innovation to life while launching the Oracle Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls season launch for a global audience. And inside Michigan Central Station, you could feel it, motorsports performance, innovation, heritage, culture, and Detroit pride all coming together. Moments like that only happen when the partnership is real.”
The Detroit Launch Week set the pace for Ford Racing’s busiest year yet, creating a shared moment for fans, employees, and partners as the brand accelerates toward its return to Formula 1.