The RB17 hypercar premiered at Goodwood and we published official information about this creation of Adrian Newey. At the Festival of Speed this weekend you can see the car in real life, although for now it is more of a life-size model, because the unique car is not yet on the road.
In any case, she will not be participating in the show that takes place on the track. In an interview with the festival press service, the creator said that this is not yet the final version of the hypercar.
Adrian Newey: “In December 2020, during the Christmas holidays, I sketched the first sketch, after which we did research in 2021, trying different configurations, experimenting with the location of the engine and electric motor, developing the layout, etc. In short, these were basic studies.
In 2022, they became more detailed, and then the first version of the car began to appear. The second evolution took place in 2023 – this is what you see here. But we continue to refine the RB17, this will be the third version of the hypercar, and the difference between the second and third evolutions will be quite noticeable.
I am sure it will be much better than this. You could say that the version presented at Goodwood is already a bit outdated! When creating our car, we gave free rein to creativity and imposed only a few restrictions on ourselves. For example, we wanted it to be a relatively comfortable car for two people.
We also wanted the car to meet all the Hypercar safety standards that apply to endurance racing. And other restrictions were dictated only by layout decisions. Otherwise, the shareholders of the company, including the Thai ones, gave us complete freedom. Thanks to this, what we have achieved is completely in line with the goals we have set ourselves.
I can’t name one decision that I’m most proud of. First of all, I have to say that this is the result of the work of the entire team that worked on our project, namely 140 people. Of course, the appearance and the layout of the car was mainly determined by the aerodynamics. At the same time, we wanted to make sure that people with relatively little racing experience could drive the RB17.
But while driving this car, people can develop piloting skills. On the one hand, it is designed to evoke the thrill of high speed driving, on the other hand, it is safe and has excellent roadholding. This was the core of our concept.
The RB17 has a V10 engine, the sound of which can evoke strong emotions. Its power is about 1000 hp, plus another 250 hp. develops an electric motor. The weight of the car is about 880 kg, the level of overload during braking and cornering can reach 5 g.
The maximum speed is limited by the characteristics of the tires, but as far as I remember the car can accelerate up to 380 km/h. At the same time, we worked with Michelin to develop special tires that can handle such high loads.
Ultimately, we wanted our car to look fantastic. Of course, this is all subjective, but I am convinced that a car of this level should be a work of art. If you look back at history: the Spifire fighter jet, the record-breaking Bluebird car from the 1960s or the Concorde aircraft were all aesthetically beautiful objects, but at the same time made to fulfill a specific function.
The RB17 uses the same techniques used in Formula 1 in the creation of the car, the detailed design of the design, the production of all components and the assembly. This is one of the reasons why only a limited series of 50 cars will be produced – with such a volume we can produce almost everything in-house or get it from the same suppliers we work with in Formula 1.
We can say that this car is very close to Formula 1 in every way, although of course the F1 technologies were used here for completely different purposes.”
It is clear that the expected price of the car, which the future owner will have to pay, is also at Formula 1 level, and Newey says this with some embarrassment: “This question still puts me in a difficult position. It will cost around £5.7 million. Of course it is very expensive, but the price reflects the level to which the RB17 corresponds… “
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
