Hot on the heels of news that Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin could be partnering up in the world of F1, Autocar is reporting that Red Bull Technologies (a different entity within Red Bull) and Aston Martin are working on a supercar to rival the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari.
Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey, who is currently employed by Red Bull Technologies, is apparently spearheading the project. At the beginning of the year, Newey pulled back from his involvement with Red Bull’s F1 team, presumably to kickstart the new model’s development, which is due for production in 2018.
Red Bull Racing’s head, Christian Horner, mentioned that Newey was working on a road car project and said Red Bull would eventually make a production car. “It’s something that Adrian is keen to do as a legacy project. At the moment our focus is on being a Formula 1 constructor, but as we see more technology cross over with the road car market, it’s something that will organically grow.”
The supercar will almost certainly use a Mercedes-Benz-sourced powertrain and electronics, and combined with Newey’s advanced aerodynamic prowess, it should stand a good chance against the world’s most hardcore performance vehicles. Beyond that, details are scarce. It’s unclear whether the vehicle will be a track-only model like McLaren’s P1 GTR and Ferrari’s LaFerrari FXX K or whether it will be approved for street duty as well.
At this point, some of you are wondering where the Aston Martin Vulcan fits into these plans. Reportedly, Aston Martin and Newey desire to keep the Vulcan and this new project separate, but we could see elements of the Vulcan’s design and its hardware carry over to the Red Bull co-developed model.
As a brief reminder, the Aston Martin Vulcan is powered by a 7.0-liter V12 making over 800 horsepower and is constructed from a carbon fiber chassis and body. The Vulcan will cost $2.3 million and will be a track-only delight.
