A lot has happened at Red Bull Racing in the last 12 to 18 months. Adrian Newey officially left the company in the first quarter of 2025. Former team boss Christian Horner was fired in July last year. On the track, an eventful season ended with the Austrian team finishing behind Mercedes and world champion McLaren, while its star driver and four-time world champion Max Verstappen finished the year second behind Lando Norris’ dominant stint.
But apart from the overall standings, Red Bull’s technology division continues to make progress. The final production version of the track-only hypercar was unveiled at the weekend, almost a year after its first appearance at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed. We saw it again at Goodwood last year, along with Newey himself when he appeared at the FOS during the Formula 1 ‘Brightest Minds’ celebrations.
The production RB17 goes far beyond the early Goodwood concept and shows how mature the project has become. Adrian Newey’s latest changes include a new centrally mounted spinal exhaust, which forced a complete rethink of heat management. The body now features far more vents, cooling intakes, downwash ramps, a large dorsal fin and revised hockey stick LED headlights.
Practical elements for rail use have been added, including exterior mirrors, a windshield wiper and revised doors with A-pillar hinges for easier entry. The car is slightly smaller overall and now rides on a full carbon tub that meets Le Mans Hypercar safety standards, with a finalized cockpit, physical switchgear and active suspension.
The RB17 essentially shows what is possible with Adrian Newey exempt from Formula 1 regulations. You see a car informed by the same mindset that produced the championship-winning F1 machines, but without restrictions on cost, complexity or overall performance. The resemblance to the Aston Martin Valkyrie is striking as both cars share the same design philosophy and spirit.
At the heart of the RB17 is a 4.5-liter naturally aspirated V10 engine developed by Cosworth, which alone produces 1,000 hp and reaches a speed of an astronomical 15,000 rpm. Red Bull adds a 200 horsepower electric motor, bringing the total output to 1,200 horsepower.
Weight remains central to the RB17’s performance, as it tips the scales at just 1,984 pounds. For some context, a modern F1 car weighs about 1750 pounds. That number alone explains why its acceleration and braking capabilities are in a different category than most modern hypercars.
Top speed is over 217 miles per hour, but absolute speed isn’t the focus here; it’s aerodynamics. The RB17 produces around 3,700 pounds of downforce, which is more than twice its own weight. In practice, this allows you to achieve cornering speeds that would be too high for street-legal cars and tires.
This is made possible by the aforementioned active suspension and the fan-assisted underbody system, which is banned in Formula 1. Red Bull even notes that the car could theoretically drive upside down at high speeds. What matters to you is the grip that is available lap after lap.
There are some restrictions on ownership as you will never drive the RB17 on public roads. This is a pure racetrack hypercar that does not meet the regulations of a racing series. Instead, Red Bull is offering an exclusive training program if you’re one of 50 lucky people to secure an allotment of a hypercar priced at around $6.5 million.
Images: Red Bull
