The Red Bull Formula 1 team has announced that it will be developing a brand-new hybrid V8 hypercar, dubbed the RB17.
You could be mistaken for thinking the hypercar in question was intended to be the Aston Martin Valkyrie but since Aston Martin have taken on its own F1 team, that project was brought in house.
The two hypercars have something in common in the form of their creator though. World renowned F1 car engineer, Adrian Newey, who had previously worked his magic on the Valkyrie is heading up the development of the RB17. He claims it will be the “ultimate on-track driving experience.”
Newey is responsible for some of the world’s most successful F1 cars including the iconic Williams FW14 and championship-winning Red Bull RB6.
The new hypercar will feature a petrol-electric V8 producing over 820kW but that power will only be available for use on track as the RB17 doesn’t look like it will be road legal.
However, that isn’t necessarily bad news considering it means the car is free from regulations in the pursuit of all-out performance.
The two-seater makes use of a carbon-composite tub while employing the help of ground-effect to produce downforce, much like the current breed of porpoising F1 cars.
“The RB17 distills everything we know about creating championship-winning Formula One cars into a package that delivers extreme levels of performance in a two-seat track car,” said Newey.
Red Bull say it’ll be faster than the Mercedes-AMG’s F1-inspired ONE and the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
In what is Red Bull’s first ever in-house hypercar project, the RB17 will be limited to 50 units built at its Milton Keynes advanced technology campus.
It won’t be cheap either, fetching a price-tag north of circa $NZ10m, with production set to start in 2025.
