Adrian Newey and Red Bull have unveiled the RB17 hypercar that the famed Formula 1 designer has been producing with the team’s Advanced Technologies division.
Revealed in a display at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the RB17 has changed significantly since the project was first announced publicly in June 2022.
The main change concerns the engine, which is now a 4.5-litre V10 instead of an F1-inspired V8 turbo power unit, while an early interpretation with 4WD was abandoned.
In an exclusive interview with Autosport ahead of the car’s public unveiling, Newey said he feels the result of such a project “should be works of art that you're happy to display as such in your house or your garage”.
PLUS: Exclusive interview: Adrian Newey explains his last Red Bull "work of art"
“Derive enjoyment simply from the art aspect. And it must sound good,” he added.
“That last challenge was a fundamental change from my initial design because I wanted a power unit that was capable of developing 1000hp, but with a maximum weight of 150kg on the combustion side.
“A turbo V8 would have certainly given that. Bu obviously, it doesn't sound as good as a naturally aspirated.
“I think for me, [and] a lot of people would agree, the height of the sort of audio soundtrack for Formula 1 was the high revving V10s until the end of 2005.”
The RB17 has only recently entered its production phase, with its suspension elements currently being made before chassis, gearbox and engine building follows.
The finished car will then be track tested and is set to be smaller and stylistically altered compared to the model revealed at Goodwood.
“It's a point in time,” Newey said of the Goodwood car. “Since then, so it's nearly a year old, we've kept developing.
“Not only from a styling point of view, other things we've [changed]. The car is a little bit smaller than the blue car in length and width. I think the styling is further improved.
“Then we had other things that we needed to incorporate because we were anxious that it should comply with all the LMH [category from the World Endurance Championship] safety regulations.”
Newey said “it is possible” that the RB17 could one day race in the WEC and at Le Mans, but would require “quite a big redesign of, particularly, the aerodynamics” plus a different engine.
Only 50 RB17s will be built, with Newey committed to finishing the project before he leaves Red Bull in March 2025.
He has been attending select F1 races since his Red Bull exit was announced as part of the RB17 sales plan, with his son Harrison – 2015 BRDC Formula 4 runner-up and 2017-2018 Asian Le Mans Series champion – working as customer manager for the car.
Red Bull is offering its RB17 customers a track programme at various unspecified circuits, as well as a warranty of two years or 2,485 miles, whichever is reached earlier.
