Red Bull Racing

Red Bull RB17 hypercar unveiled: 1,200-hp naturally-aspirated V10 redlines at 15,000 rpm

Folks who picture the Red Bull car as a chopped-up Mini carrying a giant can are in for a surprise. The company that made the drink you mixed with vodka in college has taken a seat at the table of hypercar manufacturers by leveraging the lessons learned from nearly 20 years of Formula One racing. Called RB17, the first Red Bull model made its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed with 1,200 horsepower.

Adrian Newey, the Red Bull Formula One team’s chief technical officer, played a significant role in developing the RB17. The car looks like it was shaped by the wind: It’s low, wide, and it wouldn’t look out of place on the starting grid of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The technical details released by the company are vague; all we know is that it’s powered by a mid-mounted, naturally-aspirated V10 engine that has a 15,000-rpm redline. The engine spins the rear wheels via a carbon fiber transmission, and the RB17 is built around a carbon fiber monocoque.

The 10-cylinder’s output becomes even more impressive when you consider that the RB17 weighs under 2,000 pounds. Put another way, it’s over 400 pounds lighter than a Mazda MX-5 Miata yet it has more than six times the power. Performance specifications aren’t available yet, but Red Bull promises that its first hypercar posts lap times on par with a Formula One car and has a top speed of over 217 mph.

Red Bull will build 50 units of the RB17, though pricing hasn’t been announced. An earlier report claims each car costs £5 million, which represents approximately $6.4 million at the current conversion rate and allegedly includes maintenance. The brand notes every example will be unique because buyers will be invited to customize numerous details including the paint color, the upholstery, and the interior materials. Owners will also have the opportunity to participate in events such as RB17-only track days on well-known circuits all over the world.

Red Bull’s Adrian Newey leaves F1 team, shifts focus to RB hypercar

Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey is officially departing the team in the first quarter of 2025. Rumors of his departure have swirled for the past few days, and now the news is official. But there’s more. Red Bull also revealed that Newey will be shifting his focus to the RB17 hypercar (a road car project) and seeing that project out through its completion.

It’s been 19 years of Adrian Newey designing Red Bull Formula 1 cars, and in that time he’s been a part of seven F1 Drivers’ titles, six Contructors’ championships, 118 victories and 101 poles. Those are the sort of numbers that make you a legend of the sport, especially considering that Red Bull was merely a startup F1 team when he joined.

“Ever since I was a young boy, I wanted to be a designer of fast cars,” Newey said in a statement. “My dream was to be an engineer in Formula 1, and I’ve been lucky enough to make that dream a reality.”

Of course, the real question everybody wants the answer to is where Newey is headed next. Ferrari and Aston Martin are the two teams that seem to be in the running going by the most recent rumors. However, there’s no real sure indication of where he might eventually land, assuming he stays in Formula 1.

As for why Newey is leaving, the official statement follows below.

“For almost two decades it has been my great honour to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing’s progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning team,” Newey starts. “However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself.”

Of course, there are the reported reasons of him leaving due to being unsettled by the Christian Horner misconduct investigation that stole headlines leading up to this season of racing. Newey’s statement upon leaving mentioned Horner calling him a “business partner but also a friend to our respective families.”

We’ll be waiting impatiently for further news on where Newey might be headed once the dust at Red Bull has settled, because where he goes, success in Formula 1 is almost sure to follow.

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Red Bull RB17 hypercar unveiled: 1,200-hp naturally-aspirated V10 redlines at 15,000 rpm

Red Bull’s Adrian Newey leaves F1 team, shifts focus to RB hypercar