RB17 Unveiling at Goodwood Festival of Speed

Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey dropped into the Talking Bull studio at Goodwood Festival of Speed to reveal further details about the RB17, the brand’s first hypercar.

Its unveiling at Goodwood was one of the talking points of the festival and made up part of Red Bull Racing’s 20-year celebrations at the event. The critical reaction to the RB17 was overwhelmingly positive with many likening the hypercar to the Aston Martin Valkyrie, another creation Newey had involvement in.

Performance and Design Insights

When discussing the RB17, Newey described it as “capable of F1 levels of performance, but able to grow with the driver”. Seemingly easier to drive for someone with limited experience, he recalled one RB17 customer’s simulator test achieving a pole position Silverstone lap time by one second.

The RB17 revealed at Goodwood was the second evolution of the car, with Newey stating development has now moved on to a third evolution. Manufacturing of the 50 customer cars has already started and engine dyno testing is set to begin in September. The rest of the components will then come together when ready.

The Development Process

A team of 140 people are involved in the RB17 project which was born when Newey completed his first sketch of the car in Christmas 2021, following the epic F1 championship battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. He wanted the car to look good and sound good and went through various iterations before landing on the finished idea. Initially, the plan was to have an electric motor on the front axle to give the car four-wheel drive, however, simulations showed having it on the rear axle saved weight and increased speed. It was also originally intended for the RB17 to be powered by a V8 twin-turbo engine, although Newey switched that to a normally aspirated V10, claiming the best sounding engines of the F1 era were V10s between the 1990s and mid 2000s.

Challenges and Future Plans

Talking Bull presenter Nicola Hume then reeled off some questions sent in via the Red Bull Paddock, the brand’s online forum. Asking if the design of the RB17 keeps him awake at night, Newey responded by saying he’d woken up at 5 am that very day to work on sketches of the car’s exhaust.

He then revealed the RB17s partnership with Michelin and stressed that the weight of the car would have to be reduced, and its speed limited on straights and corners in order to preserve the tyres. Newey suggested the RB17 is unlikely to compete at Le Mans anytime soon due to this reason.

Newey’s Departure from Red Bull

Newey will leave Red Bull Racing in the first quarter of 2025, voicing on the podcast his need for a break after 18 years with the team. He has stepped away from the F1 side of the business to focus his attention fully on the RB17 and says he will also be on hand to offer help or information on his passion project. Having been persuaded to join Red Bull - first by David Coulthard and then Christian Horner - back in 2005, Newey counted the team’s win at the Chinese Grand Prix in 2009, along with championship wins by Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen among his many highlights in the job.

Speculation around Newey’s future has dominated paddocks (and social media) since his decision to leave Red Bull was announced in May. Strong rumours regarding a potential move to Aston Martin have gathered pace in recent weeks.

words: Mike Booth
pictures: Red Bull Racing