Adrian Newey creates breakthrough machine but there's an Aston Martin catch

Adrian Newey scowling with a mug of coffee edited on a background of destruction — Photo: © IMAGO

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Adrian Newey creates breakthrough machine but there's an Aston Martin catch

Newey has worked on championship-winning F1 cars, but his most impressive design could be yet to come

By Kerry Violet.

Thursday 7 May 2026 23:00

Adrian Newey’s reputation as one of Formula 1’s greatest designers has been built on decades of success, with his cars helping teams secure 12 constructors’ championships throughout his career. However, that winning formula has not yet translated into results at Aston Martin.

After Newey confirmed he would leave Red Bull in 2024, Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll moved aggressively to bring the legendary engineer to Silverstone, hoping his arrival could accelerate the team’s push toward championship contention.

With Newey officially joining the project and Honda set to become the team’s engine supplier, Aston Martin viewed the 2026 regulation changes as the ideal opportunity to begin a new era in Formula 1.

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But the sad reality is that they have done nothing but create more problems for themselves in 2026, with last weekend's Miami Grand Prix the first time that both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were able to make it across the finish line.

So whilst Newey and his new squad continue to piece together the puzzle that is their numerous power unit and chassis issues, his former Red Bull team are still enjoying the fruits of his labour.

Newey's parting gift to Red Bull could be best work yet

The production target of the Newey-designed rocket ship is 50 units, with the current plan to launch the soon to be iconic vehicle in spring 2027, delivering to a high-end client list over the next two years.

The RB17 label was never used in F1 and has instead been dedicated to mark Newey's legacy with the energy drink giants.

The track-only hypercar produced by Red Bull Advanced Technologies (an arm of the Red Bull Racing Group) weighs 900kg and boasts 1200bhp, 1000 of which will come from the V10 engine, with the other 200bhp deriving from an electric drive motor.

The groundbreaking Newey-designed model debuted at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed, but the dimensions and proportions have developed significantly since then.

It is engineered to be faster than a modern F1 car, and recent virtual estimations have proved this "on a variety of circuits" including Spa, which is said to be notionally at least one second quicker than a current F1 car, at around 1min 38seconds.

The final assembly of the model is currently taking place on the same Milton Keynes site as Red Bull's F1 development, with £5 million hypercars on schedule to begin circuit testing and development "within a few weeks".

The RB17's chassis was mostly settled upon by the end of 2023, but it Newey was frozen out of the project before leaving Red Bull to head to Aston Martin in 2025.

Despite this, Technical Director and programme chief Rob Gray has maintained his aim of sticking to Newey's vision, telling Autocar: "All we have to do is deliver the car Adrian wanted".

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