Daniel Ricciardo at centre of Red Bull Ford crossover as private drive links Supercars and F1
At a private lead-up event ahead of the F1 Australian Grand Prix, daniel ricciardo will share a cockpit moment with Supercars championship leader Broc Feeney, a pairing that is both intimate and emblematic of a broader collaboration between Red Bull and Ford Racing.
How is Daniel Ricciardo connected to the Red Bull Ford crossover?
The connection is concrete: daniel ricciardo last year became a Ford Racing global ambassador, and he is set to drive alongside Broc Feeney at a private event in the lead-up to the Australian Grand Prix. That private drive is described as part of an anticipated larger tie-up between Ford Racing and Red Bull Ampol Racing at Albert Park, though exact details remain closely guarded.
What preparations has Triple Eight made for Albert Park?
Triple Eight has deepened its long-standing F1 link through co-naming with Red Bull and by aligning moves to partner with Ford from 2026. The team readied a spare Gen3 Mustang — the same car sent to the United States for off-season wind tunnel testing — to be deployed at Albert Park. Jamie Whincup, the seven-time champion and Triple Eight managing director, officially shook down the car at Queensland Raceway. Tom Wilson, Triple Eight commercial manager, hinted at a bold activation for Melbourne, signaling that the private drive is one element of a planned set of on-track and promotional activities.
What does this crossover mean for drivers and teams?
The crossover has already produced cross-programme experiences: Max Verstappen has driven a Red Bull-liveried Gen3 Mustang, and Feeney and teammate Will Brown were granted the chance to drive a Red Bull F1 car in December at The Bend. For drivers, those opportunities are being framed as mutual access between Supercars machinery and F1 exposure; for teams, the move formalises a shared marketing and technical conversation around Ford’s increased involvement. Ricciardo’s past runs in touring equipment — he previously sampled a Gen2 Supercar behind the wheel of Rick Kelly’s Nissan Altima in 2019 and drove Triple Eight’s ‘Sandman’ wagon a decade earlier — add a visible narrative thread to the present activity, reinforcing why he has become a visible face for Ford Racing.
Triple Eight’s strategy is practical as well as promotional: the team’s spare Supercar is ready for Albert Park, providing a tangible asset for demonstrations and activations. The partnership’s shape is already seen in vehicle swaps and test drives, and in the public linkage of high-profile names from both series. Oscar Piastri is also expected to participate in a related activity with a Monster Mustang at Calder, indicating a wider interest across top-level drivers in sampling Supercars machinery.
Tom Wilson’s hint and Jamie Whincup’s hands-on work with the Mustang underline a coordinated effort: commercial storytelling backed by operational preparation. Ford Racing’s global ambassador role for Ricciardo, the Gen3 Mustang’s wind-tunnel development, and the cross-programme drives by Verstappen and others together present a deliberate blending of motorsport audiences and assets.
Back in the paddock where the private drive will take place, the spare Gen3 Mustang sits ready for activation at Albert Park, and the mix of Supercars grit with F1 gloss is no longer hypothetical. The exact contours of the Red Bull–Ford activation are being closely guarded, but the sight of daniel ricciardo preparing to share a seat with Broc Feeney is itself a clear sign that the crossover has moved from concept to action — and that more public activations may follow as teams and drivers continue to swap cars and stages.
