Red Bull has said for decades that they can give you wings. Soon, 50 fortunate drivers will get to experience how a Red Bull-manufactured car does the same. On July 12, 2024, Red Bull unveiled the RB17 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England following years of development and testing. Designed by longtime Red Bull Racing Chief Technical Officer (CTO) and aerodynamic wizard Adrian Newey, this two-seat hypercar is the first Red Bull automobile that the general public could purchase—although, as you’ll soon see, that may be stretching the term a bit.
So what happens when an energy drink empire and global motorsports stalwart meets the pinnacle of automotive performance? As someone who has watched Red Bull’s motorsports success from afar, I wanted to find out. Here’s an in-depth look at how the Red Bull RB17 came to be, what it is, and what it represents for the people involved.
No Stranger to Going Fast
Anyone who has even casually followed the performance automotive scene in the 21st century knows that Red Bull’s fingerprints are all over it. They own not one but two Formula 1 teams—Oracle Red Bull Racing and RB Formula One Team. The main Red Bull Racing team won four straight World Driver’s Championships from 2010 to 2013 with Sebastian Vettel, then three straight (and possibly counting) from 2021 to 2023 with Max Verstappen. Red Bull also owned a two-car NASCAR Cup Series team from 2006 to 2011 and is heavily involved with Australian Supercars, the Superbike World Championships, drifting, airplane racing, and even yacht racing.
Furthermore, as an F1 entrant, Red Bull has been designing and building some of the world’s most technically advanced cars for more than 20 years. In other words, they know a few things about making vehicles go fast. With the RB17, Red Bull did so without being limited by rulebooks, a budget cap, or any other restrictions. They could let their imaginations run wild, limited only by their F1 technology—and as you can imagine, that isn’t much of a limitation. Thanks to the infrastructure developed for the F1 team, all production on the RB17 is being done in-house, making it a Red Bull car from top to bottom.
What We Know About the RB17
It Represents a Lost F1 Car
The RB17 gets its name from a Formula 1 machine that never was. Red Bull names its F1 designs using the RBx nomenclature, and the RB16 was their 2020 car. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting financial difficulties, F1 set a freeze on development. This meant the 2021 car had a lot fewer changes than normal. As such, Red Bull called that car the RB16B, then skipped to the RB18 in 2022. The RB17 fills the gap and is a tribute to what could have been.
It Wasn’t Red Bull’s First Attempt at a Non-Racing Car
Inspired by developing a “no-rules F1 car” for the Gran Turismo PlayStation game in 2010, Adrian Dewey spent what time he had in the first half of the decade working on a real-life version. The result was the Aston Martin Valkyrie road-legal hypercar prototype that premiered in 2016. Aston Martin was a technology partner with Red Bull Racing at the time, but that partnership ended following the 2020 season. Development on the car was complete, though, and Aston Martin put the Valkyrie into production by itself, planning to enter two in the forthcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans.
It’s Insanely Expensive
Remember I said that offering the RB17 to the general public was stretching the term? One look at the price tag will tell you why. The Red Bull RB17 has a list price of $6.5 million. That’s more than what’s been paid for the finest vehicles from McLaren, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Lotus, and other hypercar stalwarts. As Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner told The Athletic, the driving philosophy behind the RB17 was, “Let’s do the job properly and then work out how we’re going to pay for it.” When money is no object from the start, and with Newey freed from the compromises and constraints previously placed on him by Aston Martin, it’s easy to see how the cost would skyrocket.
It’s Insanely Powerful and Light
One might expect that a company known for its F1 and motorsports exploits would make a fast car. Even knowing that background, though, the Red Bull RB17 borders on obscene. It will be powered by a mid-mounted V10 Cosworth engine that can generate more than 1,200 hp. The car has a carbon fiber monocoque chassis and matching gearbox, contributing to a total weight of less than 2,000 lbs (By comparison, the much-touted 2025 Ford Mustang GTS will have 800 hp and weigh 3,268 lbs). This insane power-to-weight ratio will translate to a top speed of over 215 mph — and it redlines at 15,000 RPM. In a simulation, the RB17 reportedly beat the pole time for the 2024 British Grand Prix at Silverstone by a full second!
It’s Already Sold Out
Are you looking to get your hands on a Red Bull RB17? Unfortunately, even if you have the $6.5 million lying around, you can’t anymore—not a new one, anyway. The Red Bull RB17 reportedly sold out within days of its debut. Production on the 50 cars hadn’t even begun yet! The timeline of when the RB17 will be delivered to the buyers is unknown, but if you’re reading this and want to own an RB17, you’ll have to wait until someone gets tired of theirs (or offer them even more cash).
It’s Not Street-Legal—but Owners Can Make It So
Unlike the Aston Martin Valkyrie, the RB17 was intended as a track-only car from the get-go, meaning even fewer restrictions (emissions, sound levels, etc.) for developers to worry about. Apparently, some of those 50 buyers said they were willing to pay more to make it road-legal. Well, ask, and ye shall receive. British company Lanzante, which previously converted a McLaren P1 GTR into a street-legal ride, has said they’re working on doing the same for the RB17. Early estimates are that this conversion could cost as much as $650,000—but when you’ve already spent $6.5 million on a car, what’s another 650 grand?
It’s Adrian Newey’s Final Red Bull Project
For some people, designing the next dominant hypercar might be the start of something huge with their employer. For Adrian Newey, though, it’s the final verse. On May 1, 2024, Red Bull announced that Newey would leave the organization early in 2025, capping a 19-year stay. As part of the announcement, Red Bull said Newey would shift all focus to the RB17—partly to start the transition to a new CTO on the F1 side and partly to ensure the project is completed successfully. There has been a lot of speculation on where Newey might land next, but for his part, he says his only concern is the RB17. Horner described the car as “Adrian’s utopia,” and there’s no question about who the driving force is.
A Car Without Borders
Over the decades, Red Bull has conquered just about every market they’ve tackled, from motorsports to soccer to fashion. Now they’re coming for the hypercar crown—and if you weren’t paying attention before, you should be now. I know I’ll almost certainly never have the dough to purchase a car like the RB17. Still, just knowing that such an automotive engineering feat is possible is pretty cool. Needless to say, I’ll be watching for any video clips once the cars are delivered to see how they perform.
