A lot has happened at Red Bull Racing over the past 12 to 18 months. Adrian Newey officially departed the company in the first quarter of 2025. Former team principal Christian Horner was ousted in July last year. On track, an action-packed season ended with the Austrian team finishing behind Mercedes and world champions McLaren, while its star driver and four-time world champion, Max Verstappen, closed out the year as runner-up to Lando Norris dominant stint.
Yet away from the standings, Red Bull’s technology division is still pushing forward. The final production version of the track-only hypercar was revealed over the weekend, almost a year after its initial appearance at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed. We saw it again at Goodwood last year, along with Newey himself, making an appearance during the Formula 1’s Brightest Minds celebrations at FOS.
These digital renderings of the production-spec RB17 moves well beyond the early Goodwood concept and shows how far the project has matured. Adrian Newey’s final changes include a new centrally mounted spinal exhaust, which forced a complete rethink of thermal management. The body now features far more vents, cooling intakes, downwash ramps, a large dorsal fin, and finalized hockey-stick LED headlights.
Practical track-use elements have been added, including door mirrors, a windscreen wiper, and revised A-pillar-hinged doors for easier entry. The car is slightly smaller overall and now rides on a completed carbon tub designed to Le Mans Hypercar safety standards, with a finalized cockpit, physical switchgear, and active suspension.
The RB17 essentially showcases what is possible with Adrian Newey, freed of Formula 1 regulations. You are looking at a car shaped by the same thinking that delivered championship-winning F1 machines, but without constraints on cost, complexity, or outright performance. The resemblance to the Aston Martin Valkyrie is uncanny, as both cars share the same design philosophy and the same mind behind them.
At the heart of the RB17 sits a 4.5-liter naturally aspirated V10 developed by Cosworth that delivers 1,000 horsepower on its own and revs to an astronomical 15,000 rpm. Red Bull adds a 200-horsepower electric motor for a combined output of 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-day F1 car weighs around ~1750 pounds. That figure alone explains why its acceleration and braking capability sit in a different category from most modern hypercars.
Top speed exceeds 217 mph, but outright speed is not the headline here; it is Aerodynamics. The RB17 produces over 3,700 pounds of downforce, which is more than twice its own weight. In practical terms, this allows you to carry corner speeds that would overwhelm road-legal cars and tires.
This is made possible through the aforementioned active suspension and fan-assisted underbody system that is banned in F1. Red Bull even notes that, in theory, the car could drive upside down at speed. What matters to you is the level of grip available lap after lap.
Ownership comes with some limitations, as you will never drive the RB17 on public roads. This is a track-only hypercar, and it also does not comply with any racing series regulations. Instead, Red Bull includes an exclusive training program if you’re one of 50 lucky people to secure an allocation for a hypercar priced from ~$6.5 million.
Images: Red Bull