Ford Puma Rally1: 500bhp WRC hybrid racer officially revealed

Ford's M Sport rally team has revealed the striking livery for its 2022 Ford Puma Rally1 WRC car ahead of the season kicking off in Monte Carlo on 20 January.

Three Red Bull-sponsored Puma racers will be piloted by Craig Breen, Adrien Formaux and Gus Greensmith, with nine-time WRC champion Sébastian Loeb joining the team to take part in the Monte Carlo Rally.

2022 makes the 25th anniversary of Ford's partnership with M-Sport, during which time the team has claimed seven championship victories and 1500 stage wins. 

The car's final paint scheme has been revealed following its recent starring role in in a stunt sequence to celebrate the one millionth car rolling off the production line at Ford’s Craiova factory in Romania.

Filmed at the plant itself, with appearances from the standard Ford Puma – which is currently built there – and several plant employees, the film (below) shows the M-Sport team’s hybridised racer driven in anger by Formaux.

The Puma Rally1 is powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder Ecoboost engine, mated to a 134bhp EV motor for combined outputs of around 500bhp and 369b ft. A 3.9kWh battery supplies enough EV range to travel through towns and service parks with the engine off, and takes 25 minutes to charge. 

M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson said: “The new era of WRC cars is one of the biggest technological advancements in WRC to date. The introduction of the hybrid means that the cars will be more powerful than ever whilst also directly reflecting the powertrains within their road-going counterparts.”

He described the switch to the Puma as “very exciting”, noting that the nameplate has a rally history.

"The switch to the Puma is very exciting, with the name already having rally heritage," he said. "The car looks fantastic and I cannot wait to see it at the start line of the famous Monte Carlo Rally in early 2022."

A two-wheel-drive rally version of the original Puma was a front-runner in the Junior WRC and various national series in the early 2000s.

M-Sport has committed to the new WRC technical regulations for the next three seasons. The Puma Rally1 will take on works Rally1 challengers from Toyota and Hyundai, which will continue with the Yaris and i20 N respectively.