Red Bull RB17: Adrian Newey drove the 15,000 rpm V10 track hypercar up the Goodwood hill
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Red Bull RB17: Adrian Newey drove the 15,000 rpm V10 track hypercar up the Goodwood hill

Cosworth 4.5-litre V10, 200 hp motor, sub-900 kg, over 1,200 hp combined. 50 units, roughly $6-7.5 million each.

By Seper ArjmandiJuly 8, 2026

Red Bull Advanced Technologies took the RB17 track-only hypercar up the Goodwood Festival of Speed hillclimb on July 9, 2026. Adrian Newey drove the opening run. It was the car's first public track appearance, and the first time the 15,000 rpm Cosworth V10 was heard outside a Red Bull test session.

The RB17 has been on the drip since 2022. What Goodwood 2026 confirmed is that the car exists as a running prototype, that the drivetrain works, and that the specifications Red Bull has been quoting for four years are close to accurate.

The powertrain, finally on public record

  • Combustion engine: naturally aspirated 4.5-litre Cosworth V10, ~1,000 hp, 15,000 rpm redline
  • Electric assistance: 200 hp electric motor (integrated with the V10 via KERS-style deployment)
  • Combined output: over 1,200 hp
  • Weight: under 900 kg dry
  • Top speed: in excess of 350 km/h
  • Configuration: two-seat, track-only (no road homologation)

A 4.5-litre V10 running to 15,000 rpm is the kind of engine that stopped being commercially viable when the FIA switched Formula One to V6 hybrids in 2014. Cosworth built the RB17 unit as a bespoke commission. It does not share architecture with the F1 units Cosworth built through 2013. What it shares is philosophy: a very small displacement per cylinder, high-rpm operation, and no forced induction.

Combined with a 200 hp electric motor, the total 1,200-plus hp puts the RB17 above the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro (1,000 hp) and above the Mercedes-AMG One (1,049 hp) in dry combined output. Sub-900 kg puts it far below both. The Valkyrie is 1,030 kg, the One is 1,695 kg.

Track-only, but Newey has floated Le Mans

Red Bull's official position is that the RB17 is a customer track car. There is no road homologation path, and the specifications assume slick tyres, closed-course use, and full driver-in-the-loop training programs at Red Bull's chosen circuits.

Newey has, in press interviews around Goodwood, entertained the possibility of an RB17-derived Le Mans Hypercar entry. He was careful to describe it as "possible" rather than committed. The current LMH regulations cap combined power at ~700 hp, so a straight lift-and-drop would not be legal. The RB17's ~1,200 hp far exceeds the class limit. Any Le Mans variant would be a heavily de-tuned, re-engineered car sharing carbon-tub architecture and philosophy but not powertrain output.

Production and price

  • Production run: 50 units
  • Price: approximately $6-7.5 million each, depending on source
  • Buyer program: all 50 allocations have been sold
  • First deliveries: expected late 2026 to early 2027

The pricing floats between reports. Red Bull has not published an official MSRP and different buyer engagements have surfaced different figures. What is consistent is that this is not a Bugatti/Koenigsegg-tier hypercar priced for the traditional collector market. It is priced for the F1-adjacent enthusiast who wants the Newey design and the customer track program more than a car to drive on the road.

Why Goodwood mattered here

The RB17 has been a concept-and-render project for most of its four-year existence. Cars this expensive with this much design pedigree have shown up as static display pieces before and never made noise. What Goodwood 2026 delivered is proof that the car runs, that the powertrain is real, and that Newey, a man who does not attach his name lightly, is publicly comfortable driving it in front of an audience.

The demonstration was not a timed hillclimb run. That is coming in future events. What Goodwood was, was a promise being made honest.

The basics

Red Bull RB17
Public debutGoodwood Festival of Speed, July 9, 2026
Debut driverAdrian Newey
EngineCosworth 4.5L naturally aspirated V10
Combustion power~1,000 hp at 15,000 rpm
Electric power200 hp
System output1,200+ hp
Dry weightunder 900 kg
Top speed350+ km/h
Production50 units
Price~$6-7.5 million
UseTrack only

See where the RB17 lands relative to today's hypercar field on our fastest cars list.

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Sources: Red Bull Advanced Technologies Reveal HyperCar At Goodwood Festival of Speed (Red Bull Racing); Adrian Newey (and others) will drive the V10 RB17 at Goodwood for the first time (Top Gear); Red Bull's $6.7M RB17 Is Bringing The V10 Scream F1 Gave Up Back To Goodwood (Carscoops); Red Bull Racing Put The Finishing Touches On Its $6 Million RB17 Hypercar For Goodwood Debut (Jalopnik). Photography: Red Bull Advanced Technologies.