Red Bull Advanced Technologies has unveiled what will be its first production vehicle, a hybrid V8-powered hypercar that will be priced at around £5m with production limited to 50 units.
Red Bull’s technology division, which in addition to managing the Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri teams in Formula 1 has specialized in the research and development of technologies in various fields, it has presented its first serial production car project.
Its about Red Bull RB17a hypercar equipped with a V8 hybrid engine that will have a limited production of 50 units and whose price will be around 5 million pounds, about 5.8 million euros.
This future hypercar will also be developed by illustrious names from the Red Bull Formula 1 division, with its technical director Adrian Newey to the head. The British engineer already captained the project carried out jointly with Aston Martin: the Valkyrie, and now the team’s two drivers will join: world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, winner of three Grand Prix and with more than 10 years of experience in the category.
A 100% Red Bull car
Red Bull Advanced Technologiesthe aforementioned high-performance engineering arm of Red Bull Racing Group, announced the details of its first hypercar project designed, developed and manufactured entirely by the Austrian company.
The RB17 will be a two-seat hypercar optimized for the best driving experience on the track. Only 50 RB17s will be built at the Red Bull Technology Campus in Milton Keynes, with production scheduled to begin in 2025.
powered by a hybrid V8 engine that will develop more than 1100 CVthe RB17 takes its inspiration and name from the cars that Red Bull Racing has brought to Formula 1. Designed around a carbon cockpit, the RB17 will use ground effect to optimize aerodynamics and performance.
Loading tweet…
1541707983197011970
Ownership of the car will include, in addition to the car itself, a close association with the Red Bull Racing team through access to simulators, vehicle program development and on-track training and experiences. In fact, the RB17 will be supported directly from the factory, with service and maintenance support tailored to each owner and their usage profile for the car.
Adrian Newey, Technical Director of Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Advanced Technologies, commented: “The RB17 distills everything we know about creating championship-winning Formula 1 single-seaters into a package that delivers extreme levels of performance. Driven by our passion for performance at all levels, the RB17 pushes design and technical limits far beyond what was previously available to enthusiasts and collectors.”.
Verstappen and Pérez, involved in the project
Another incentive for the potential buyer of the future Red Bull RB17 will be the participation of the two Red Bull Racing drivers in Formula 1.
This has been confirmed by Christian Horner, who has pointed out that “They will be involved in the development of the car. Max drove the Valkyrie from time to time, and I think he’s a customer of that vehicle too.. Whether they decide to buy one of these cars will be up to them, but we will certainly look to use all the skills we have in developing these vehicles.”
Adrian Newey, for his part, admits that the development of his first hypercar, the Aston Martin Valkyrie, was an important learning for the first single-seater of the new 2022 regulations in Formula 1, which is based on that same concept.
“In developing the Valkyrie, which is basically a tunnel with ground effect, some of the things we learned were very useful when we started designing the RB18. It’s a Venturi car that we haven’t had in Formula 1 since 1983.”
The British engineer, one of the most outstanding in the history of Formula 1, affirms that the main objective of the RB17 will be to match its performance to that of a Formula 1. “When we talk about F1 level of performance, we are talking about lap time.Which ultimately is what counts.”
“Of course, it will depend on each circuit, but the great battle is the weight. When you make a car that’s big enough to carry two people and has a roof, it automatically becomes different from a Formula 1 car,” says Newey.
“Compared to the Valkyrie, it will have significantly higher performance. The Valkyrie was conceived as a road car, and that comes with a number of limitations when all you’re looking for is performance.”
“The most important thing, as I said, is to try to lose weight. There will be a lot of work on that as power is relatively easy to come by today with advances in engine technology.”
“We need to make sure the aerodynamics are the big contributor and work well, and there are quite a few tricks that we have used in the past that we will use now to achieve that”Newey concludes.
Font:
Red Bull Racing
/
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool