Red Bull RB17, Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2024

Red Bull believe their RB17 hypercar will be able to lap Spa-Francorchamps with slick tyres quicker than current Formula 1 cars.

The track-only hypercar, designed by Adrian Newey prior to his departure from the organisation last year, is in the process of being manufactured by Red Bull, with only 50 models set to be made.

The two-seater car will be lighter than 900kg with an estimated top speed of over 350kph (210mph). The model has been designed and built entirely by Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the applied technology wing of Red Bull Racing.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Talking Bull podcast, Rob Gray, technical director of Red Bull Advanced Technologies, claimed that the team’s simulator runs indicate that the car will not simply match Formula 1 lap times, but be faster.

“In the virtual world, it is faster than an F1 car,” said Gray. “At Spa, they did a 1’38 – something like that. So incredibly fast.”

Oscar Piastri set the fastest ever lap of Spa-Francorchamps in a race meeting at last month’s Belgian Grand Prix – a 1’40.510 – during the final phase of sprint qualifying. In 2018, Neel Jani clocked a 1’41.770 around the circuit in Porsche’s unrestricted 919 Evo LMP1 car in a private test.

Gray says the car will have Formula 1 DNA throughout all elements of its design.

“It has 1,200 horsepower from a 4.5-litre V10 engine,” he explained. “The RB1 [F1 car, 2005] was the last Cosworth-engined Red Bull and this is the next Cosworth-engined Red Bull. RB1 had a V10 and this has a V10 – which is quite a nice link, there.

“It’s very aerodynamically efficient. Lots of downforce and lots of active aerodynamic systems, so we stop the downforce increasing any further once we get to a certain level. That’s to protect the tyres.”

Despite Newey no longer being part of the organisation, having moved to Aston Martin to support the team’s Formula 1 effort, Gray says the celebrated designer retains a keen interest in the project and approached him during the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed.

“He collared me as he was going to get into his Lotus to do a run up the hill,” said Gray. “We had an impromptu debrief on how things are going and what the next challenges are.

“We’re at the point where we got all the aerodynamic surfaces and the styling surfaces out before Adrian left. So then it’s just a case of making the car real. Because now it’s every part has to be designed in detail and then manufactured. We’re actually starting to lay out the chassis, so it’s a really good time for the RB17 and it’s really moving forward.”

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