[RahulNagaraj]

Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) - the engineering arm of the Red Bull F1 Racing Team, has announced their first in-house hypercar project, the RB17.



The company announced that the new RB17 hypercar's development will be under the leadership of their Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey - whose designs helped Red Bull win all their four Constructor's Championship in Formula1.

The new hypercar is said to be powered by a V8 hybrid engine, said to produce over 1100 BHP. The RB17 will be a two-seat hypercar designed around a carbon-composite tub and utilise ground effect, similar to the 2022 F1 cars.

RBAT is said to start production of the RB17 from 2025, with just 50 examples being built - priced at GBP 5 million each. Owners of the RB17 will also get access to the team's simulators, vehicle programme development & on-track training, while the factory itself will handle the service and maintenance of each car.

Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principal, stated that the RB17 marks the first time a car wearing the Red Bull brand will be available to collectors. It also marks an important milestone in RBAT, which is now fully capable of manufacturing a series production car.

Link to Team-BHP news

[GreasyCarb55]

Am I the only one thinking this is Christian Horner trying to be sneaky with F1 R&D with the current budget restrictions?

Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) is a separate legal entity to Red Bull Racing F1 and the way I see it is that RBAT could do F1 grade R&D to "go into the RB17 Hypercar" and then sell the tech at a cheap price to Red Bull Racing F1 and it would technically just be one company selling it's tech to another.

[ads11]

I just saw the tweet from Red Bull:
https://twitter.com/redbullracing/st...wAsoE4je-b0W1Q

I guess with Aston taking over, Adrian never quite got to scratch his itch for his own near mythic road car (I guess one of the few things Gordon has over Adrian, other than impeccable taste in shirts and dare I say it, hair..).

This is quite a departure though compared to the primarily advertising aspect of the entire motorsports programme in the wider RB corporate umbrella. I guess buying the engine operation from Honda meant that they have all the pieces in place to do their own in house engine for the car, doubt they'd be going to Cosworth the way the Valkyrie does.

Wonder if SSO has heard any rumblings about this in their circles, usually a good person to share the low down on how these projects fare in reality compared to the carefully massaged press releases, etc.

[Mechb63]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) is a separate legal entity to Red Bull Racing F1 and the way I see it is that RBAT could do F1 grade R&D to "go into the RB17 Hypercar" and then sell the tech at a cheap price to Red Bull Racing F1 and it would technically just be one company selling it's tech to another.

I mean I would not be surprised if every team does that. Perhaps this was Redbull's only possible way of being able to have a competitive edge over other racing teams who not only race F1 cars but also have a road car business.

Given how cutthroat the world of F1 is, I do not see why a top team like Redbull would let go of such an opportunity. An added bonus would be that other teams would not be able to snatch Adrian Newey by baiting him with an empty slate for designing a road car.

[Porcupine]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

Am I the only one thinking this is Christian Horner trying to be sneaky with F1 R&D with the current budget restrictions

It's highly possible. But in that case it would be a far stretch to assume Mercedes and Ferrari aren't doing the exact same thing, given the Mercedes AMG One which literally has an F1 hybrid engine in it, and all the Ferrari hyper cars. Even McLaren and Aston Martin may well be doing it.

[SSO]

Originally Posted by ads11

I just saw the tweet from Red Bull:
https://twitter.com/redbullracing/st...wAsoE4je-b0W1Q

I guess with Aston taking over, Adrian never quite got to scratch his itch for his own near mythic road car (I guess one of the few things Gordon has over Adrian, other than impeccable taste in shirts and dare I say it, hair..).

This is quite a departure though compared to the primarily advertising aspect of the entire motorsports programme in the wider RB corporate umbrella. I guess buying the engine operation from Honda meant that they have all the pieces in place to do their own in house engine for the car, doubt they'd be going to Cosworth the way the Valkyrie does.

Wonder if SSO has heard any rumblings about this in their circles, usually a good person to share the low down on how these projects fare in reality compared to the carefully massaged press releases, etc.

From what I have heard this is a giant middle finger to Aston Martin and Stroll. The Red Bull - Aston relationship did not end well and Newey is not at all pleased with the Valkyrie - last I heard he was describing it as needing "significant further development". Engine will definitely not be Cosworth. Not sure what is happening at Cosworth right now as the owner died suddenly last year.

[ads11]

Originally Posted by SSO

From what I have heard this is a giant middle finger to Aston Martin and Stroll. The Red Bull - Aston relationship did not end well and Newey is not at all pleased with the Valkyrie - last I heard he was describing it as needing "significant further development". Engine will definitely not be Cosworth. Not sure what is happening at Cosworth right now as the owner died suddenly last year.

Cheers, I had a suspicion it might be the case - it fits in with how Red Bull leadership tends to operate. They're not subtle about getting back at any slight, perceived or otherwise.

I'd come across enough comments and messaging to suggest Newey was booted unceremoniously out of his own passion project. Also everything coming out of Aston (both the road car and F1 division) suggests Papa Stroll is a bit of an odious jerk and it's a horrible place to work at the moment. If morale at the race team is so low and the atmosphere so toxic, can only imagine it's really bad at the road car unit.

A question I Do have re: this RBAT hypercar is how would it fit in now we know that Porsche is looking to acquire a major stake in the RB F1 group, including RBPT (honestly, I hope bosses at Honda are kicking themselves for allowing all their R&D to now fall in the lap of the VAG). Presumably the RBAT hypercar would be funded entirely within the RB umbrella, but once the VAG wades in, does that project get axed? I mean the powers that be were pretty ruthless in quietly shunting off Bugati onto Rimac, it seems the current board and ownership have no time for passion projects.

[SSO]

Originally Posted by ads11

A question I Do have re: this RBAT hypercar is how would it fit in now we know that Porsche is looking to acquire a major stake in the RB F1 group, including RBPT (honestly, I hope bosses at Honda are kicking themselves for allowing all their R&D to now fall in the lap of the VAG). Presumably the RBAT hypercar would be funded entirely within the RB umbrella, but once the VAG wades in, does that project get axed? I mean the powers that be were pretty ruthless in quietly shunting off Bugati onto Rimac, it seems the current board and ownership have no time for passion projects.

I doubt Porsche would touch the RBAT hypercar. Its a bone to keep Newey happy and will likely be near, if not out the door, by the time Porsche shows up.