Red Bull announce plans for 1,100bhp hypercar with £5 million price tag

2022 F1 season

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Red Bull has announced plans to develop and build its first production car. The RB17, which uses the same nomenclature as its Formula 1 cars, is due to arrive in 2025.

The F1 outfit and its renowned chief technical officer Adrian Newey previously developed the Valkyrie hypercar with its former title sponsor Aston Martin. The RB17 will constructed entirely at Red Bull’s base in Milton Keynes.

The RB17 will be a track-only model, run with direct support from the Red Bull factory. The two-seater will be powered by a V8 hybrid engine delivering over 1,100bhp (820kW).

Red Bull is making strong claims for its Newey-crafted aerodynamics, which it describes as “the most advanced ground effect package available in a series production car.” The RB17 will carry a price tag of £5 million and only 50 examples will be made.

“The RB17 marks an important milestone in the evolution of Red Bull Advanced Technologies, now fully capable of creating and manufacturing a series production car at our Red Bull Technology Campus,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “Further, the RB17 marks the first time that a car wearing the Red Bull brand has been available to collectors.”

The announcement of the RB17 marks a further expansion of Red Bull’s engineering efforts beyond its original Formula 1 team. It has already begun taking over the production and supply of its Honda-sourced F1 power units at its Milton Keynes base. Building the RB17 will create over 100 new jobs at its factory, Red Bull said.

Newey said the RB17 “distils everything we know about creating championship-winning Formula 1 cars into a package that delivers extreme levels of performance in a two-seat track car.” He promised the car will “push design and technical boundaries far beyond what has been previously available to enthusiasts and collectors.”

Red Bull’s current F1 car is designated RB18. Its predecessor was the RB16B, an evolution of the team’s 2020 car.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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26 comments on “Red Bull announce plans for 1,100bhp hypercar with £5 million price tag”

  1. I just find it a bit sad that there are people out there that won’t even hesitate to splash out that sort of cash for a track car when the world is currently suffering from massive financial uncertainty.

    It’s even sadder that a fair number of them probably don’t have the skills to drive one properly either.

    1. From the sole point-of-view of uniqueness and art, this is not just a hyper car made by a “greedy car manufacturer”, it’s a car designed by a legendary designer in the history of motorsport. I think there’s more to it than it just being another track car.

      Money-wise, whoever has the cash to spare on such a toy, is hardly someone who’s feeling threatened by the current financial uncertainties. These engineered economic crises are designed to hit the poor and make people more dependent. Look at the record profits that the biggest companies in the world are making right now. There’s no real shortage of anything.

    2. Well that money goes to employ engineers, designer’s and people to build the car. So isn’t all bad.

    3. The money is merely ‘changing hands’ and partially ending up in 100 pockets of people who will spend it more to your liking.

      I don’t mind people spending that amount of money, but more the ‘showing it off’.

    4. @dbradock “Building the RB17 will create over 100 new jobs at its factory, Red Bull said”

    5. when the world is currently suffering from massive financial uncertainty.

      This reminds me of the people who were offended that F1 was planning its schedule during the pandemic. Like, planning needs to happen even when it’s not time to execute. This car won’t be ready until 2025, so maybe we’ll be in conditions you find to your liking by then.

    6. I don’t have a problem with it. If somebody has the money to afford one and they are passionate about it, why not. Maybe some rich folk will just buy it as a collectable item, but it really doesn’t matter… It’s actually good for the economy. It’s not just the 100 people at Red Bull, but think of all the parts/materials they need to acquire from other companies which in turns pays wages to their staff who then have money to buy on goods and services for themselves and so on and so on..

    7. Coventry Climax
      28th June 2022, 19:30

      I think I’ll buy two, one to hone my skills on track, and one to just look at. ;-)

  2. Am I cynical for thinking RB realizes that this kind of project can be a way to circumvent F1 cost caps (and keep key talent). With most of their competitors already having supercar projects, they likely are just playing catch up.

    1. I’m sure that’s a part of it. I think the bigger part will be giving Adrian projects that simulate him so he sticks around for the F1 team. He’s always liked side projects and it’s why he’s at F1, they allow him to do things outside F1, it’s why they set up the Valkyre project. Pretty sure he worked on America Cup boats as well?

      But yes, having a way to hold onto staff through the budget cap will also factor, it gives you a bigger talent pool and a way to secure them even if they aren’t actively working in F1. Plus, they do have mad skills at building super competitive cars and are now an engine manufacturer as well, so why not leverage those resources into other projects? There’s none more fitting. I’d definitely be doing this if I was them!

      Can’t wait to see the beast…

  3. I apploud this project.

    1. Coventry Climax
      28th June 2022, 19:34

      And lack a dictionary.

      1. You haven’t come across apploud? It means loudly applaud.

  4. A car filled with useless tech that costs way too much, can’t be driven on the road and is almost completely useless, inaccessible and even has a silly name.

    The general automotive market moved on from F1, so F1 is creating a tenuous link to their beloved relevance through some ultra-limited production run cars that nobody can buy or use.
    Well done.

  5. Newey’s design practice outing before starting at the new technical regulations?
    He says he started design during xmas holidays 2020-2021.
    It could explain why the RB design team was on top of porpoising quickly, it has been fresh on Newey’s mind all along.

    1. RBR have designed the RB18 with porpoising in mind. They designed the rear suspension in clever way to prevent the floor from lowering. While Adrian Newey is one of kind genius designer, the last dinosaur from the great era of the sport (Rory Byrne is still also working as a part time independent consultant for Ferrari).

      There is another man that works always in close collaboration with him and he is equally genius but often doesn’t get the same credit. Rob Marshall since the Benetton years has been known for his mastery of the me mechanical area. At Renault, he was the head of mechanical designs and oversaw the development of the mass dumper. Since he joined RBR, they have always been top notch in terms of suspension designs in the last decade.

  6. Red Bull feel they need to find even more creative ways around the budget cap then!

    They can’t win without cheating somehow.

    1. I’ll probably never understand people like you.

      RedBull has a legendary designer making a hypercar for rich costumers to both earn money, keep Newey happy (i.e., at RBR), and leveraging their investment in RBPT. Meanwhile a lot of employees and suppliers make money of it. Moving money is the best kind of money, instead of keeping the spare 5m in their portfolio/account.

      And even if it is a way of ‘cheating’, they are certainly not the first (Mclaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston, etc).

      I really hope people start enjoying life for what it is more often these days, you’ll always find something to be angry about when looking for it.

    2. Coventry Climax
      28th June 2022, 19:38

      Pathetic remark.
      Building supercars is Ferrari’s way to make a living, and Mercedes has some models too.
      Even Renault, from time to time, comes up with a supercar, although those never make it to production.
      Maserati, Lotus etc etc, it was all about supercars.

  7. Whatever floats Red Bull’s boat, I guess. I’m sure it’ll be a fine machine, even if there’s no lack of overpriced cars that are more common on Instagram than the tracks they’re ostensibly designed for.

    As a motorsports fan, though, I’m much more interested in Ferrari’s post-budget cap move to participate at Le Mans.

  8. A great sign of how insane the wealth gap has become. Prior to the 2000s, this car would have no market or one small enough not be a sign of anything. If it looks great, they’d probably be able to sell 500 off these things.

  9. How is your average Joe meant to afford that??

    It would be nice if we lived in a world where everyone has a change to enjoy the nice things in life and not the elite super rich.

  10. I thought Christian Horner said the RB17 would never exist!

  11. Race it at Le Mans.
    Then I’ll be interested.

  12. Lotus would designate cars similarly, whatever the formula or use. The Lotus 49 is iconic. I have a Lotus 50 in the garage. That I’d better get working on making it run!

  13. Have they actually delivered any Valkyries yet?

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