F1 Engine Manufacturers

Several key elements define the sport of Formula 1, and one of them is the car’s engine. Engine/power unit manufacturers showcase the sport’s competitive landscape and technological innovation the best, with everyone pursuing peak performance in their engines.

In the 2023 season, there are four engine suppliers that take care of all the ten teams:

Ferrari (supplies Ferrari, Haas F1 Team, and Alfa Romeo)
Mercedes (supplies Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren, and Williams)
Honda/Red Bull (supplies Red Bull Racing, AlphaTauri)
Renault (supplies Alpine)

In total, there have been 73 power unit manufacturers (including the current ones) in the history of Formula 1. Let’s go over the four manufacturers that are still active today and make the spectacular racing scene we know and love!

Ferrari Engine Manufacturer

Credit - F1technical.net

Seasons: 1950 – present
Engines Built In: Italy
World Constructors’ Championships Won: 16 (1961, 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008)
3 Teams Supplied in 2023: Ferrari, Haas F1 Team, Alfa Romeo (Sauber)
Type of Engine/Power Unit Manufacturer: Factory/Works Team
Engine Used in 2023: Ferrari 066/10 used in the new SF-23 race car

Ferrari has always made the engines for its Formula 1 cars, ever since the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix, which makes it a Factory Team.

Factory teams who make their own engines have a significant advantage compared to those who don’t. That’s because they usually have higher budgets and are able to streamline the car design and engine design processes to ensure the complete integration of all the components.

Teams who don’t make their own engines will have to package their car around the engine design that they receive from the engine manufacturer. This makes the design process a bit less efficient.

Ferrari also supplies multiple Customer Teams, having supplied engines to 11 teams over the years: Ferrari (1950 – present), Minardi (1991), Scuderia Italia (1992-1993), Sauber (1997-2005 and 2010-2025), Prost (2001), Red Bull Racing (2006), Spyker (2007), Scuderia Toro Rosso (2007-2013, 2016), Force India (2008), Marussia (2014-2015), and Haas F1 Team (2023).

This year, Ferrari has launched the SF-23 and improved several aspects of the old one, choosing to improve it rather than completely overhaul it.

Mercedes Engine Manufacturer

Credit - Autosport.com

Seasons: 1954-1955, 1994-present
Engines Built In: United Kingdom
World Constructors’ Championships Won: 10 (1998, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
4 Teams Supplied in 2023: Mercedes, Aston Martin, McLaren, and Williams
Type of Engine/Power Unit Manufacturer: Factory/Works Team
Engine Used in 2023: F1 M14 E Performance used in the Mercedes-AMG F1 W14 E Performance race car

Mercedes is also a Factor/Works team since they make their own engines and deliver engines to three other 2023 teams – Aston Martin, McLaren, and Williams.

Over the years, Mercedes has supplied engines to 7 teams, including Sauber, McLaren, Brawn GP (which became Mercedes’ Factory Team), Force India (the future Racing Point and then Aston Martin F1), Williams, Lotus F1 Team, and Manor.

Mercedes has always supplied their own engines for their F1 team, which makes them a pure Factory Team, just like Ferrari.

Mercedes’ engine manufacturing company is called Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, formerly known as Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines and Ilmor Engineering).

Daimler-Benz bought a 25% share of Ilmor in 1993 and then increased it to 55% in 2002. That that point, the company was called Mercedes-Ilmor. In 2005, Mercedes bought the entire company and called it Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines.

Lastly, in 2011, the company was renamed to Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, which is the name used today.

Honda/Red Bull Engine Manufacturer

Seasons: 2023 - Present
Engines Built In: Japan
World Constructors’ Championships Won: 1 (2022)
2 Teams Supplied in 2023: Red Bull, AlphaTauri
Type of Engine/Power Unit Manufacturer: Factory/Works Team
Engine Used in 2023: Honda RBPTH001 used in the RB19 race car

The Honda/Red Bull engine situation is a bit more complicated. Honda, which was a long-term engine supplier (and team) in Formula 1, has officially withdrawn from F1 in 2021.

However, they sealed a deal with Red Bull to supply the Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri with power units. The deal would last until the end of the 2022 season, at which point the Red Bull Powertrains company would take over.

But the deal was extended until the end of the 2025 season, so the Honda Racing Corporation would retain all the rights to the power units but would receive Red Bull financing for designing and producing the engines.

During the 2022 season, Honda designed and built engines for Red Bull, which were called the Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) units. Honda’s name was not included in the official engine designation.

During the 2023 season, though, the new power units are called Honda RBPT, showcasing Honda’s return as a named engine supplier.

This deal will only last until 2026 since Red Bull has announced that they’ll continue with their Red Bull Powertrains project and receive support from Ford.

Honda, on the other hand, will return to Formula 1 in the same year after partnering with Aston Martin.

Renault Engine Manufacturer

Seasons: 1977-1986, 1989-1997, 2001-Present
Engines Built In: France
World Constructors’ Championships Won: 12 (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
1 Team Supplied in 2023: Alpine
Type of Engine/Power Unit Manufacturer: Factory/Works Team
Engine Used in 2023: Honda RBPTH001 used in the RB19 race car

Renault has been a Factory Team only since the 2021 season because they only provided engines for Alpine, which is the rebranded Renault team.

Throughout the years, Renault has supplied engines to 10 teams, including Lotus (1983-1986), Ligier (1984-1986, 1992-1994), Tyrrell (1985-1986), Williams (1989-1997, 2012-2013), Benetton (1995-1997, 2001), Red Bull (2007-2015), Caterham (2012-2014), Toro Rosso (2014-2015), McLaren (2018-2020), and Alpine (2021-present).

Renault has had a rocky yet highly successful career as an engine manufacturer, winning a total of 12 Constructors’ Championships and 11 Drivers’ Championships.

One by one, all the other teams have renounced Renault engines, instead opting for alternatives like Mercedes (McLaren team), and Honda (Red Bull team).

Renault was left supplying its own team, Alpine, from 2021 onward, and there hasn’t been any announcement about a new engine supply partnership with other teams.

Conclusion

All in all, there are only four power unit manufacturers supplying all the ten F1 teams in 2023.

So, five teams benefit from full-works partnerships with their own engine manufacturers:

Honda/Red Bull for its two teams: Red Bull and AlphaTauri
Ferrari for its own team
Mercedes for its own team
Renault for its own team

The other 5 (McLaren, Aston Martin, Williams, Alfa Romeo, Haas F1 Team) don’t have Works Agreements with their engine manufacturers. Instead, they are Customer Teams, which means they get their engines from other manufacturers.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re at a disadvantage. Look at McLaren, for instance. They’ve outperformed the Mercedes team recently (in the Brazil Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix).

From 2026, there will be six power unit manufacturers competing, adding in Ford (in collaboration with Red Bull as the Red Bull Ford team), and Audi.

For the 2026 engine regulation change, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem imposed new robust technical regulations on car manufacturers regarding sustainable fuels, the removal of MGU-H, and the increase of the energy ratio between the electrical power and the fuel combustion used in propulsion.

The new engine regulations agreed-upon in 2023 (and to be introduced in 2026) require all cars to have a 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged hybrid engine, so all the manufacturers have been working hard to adapt to the new power unit regulations. This means that teams will have to design a completely new engine from 2026 onward.