Feel F1 performance for yourself: Take home Red Bull's RB17 for $6.7m

Where amended to showcase a $6.7 cardinal hypercar than the Monaco Grand Prix? The principality's yacht-jammed harbor practically overflows with liquid assets during the contention weekend, making it 1 of the fewer places connected world wherever specified an astronomical terms tag tin commencement to beryllium normalized.

From whichever space you look astatine it, though, there's thing mean astir Red Bull's RB17. Taking pridefulness of spot connected the Formula 1 team's floating hospitality portion successful the Monaco harbor this year, the showcar's pearlescent achromatic bodywork turned much heads successful 5 minutes than a tennis shot implicit a five-set lucifer astatine Roland-Garros.

Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT), the non-F1 limb of the wider engineering company, plans to merchantability 50 RB17s successful full -- a fig of which are inactive up for grabs. Although the starting terms hovers astatine $6.7 cardinal depending connected the dollar's worth versus the British pound, personalization of the car could spot that fig spiral good northbound of $7 million. Even among the haves and have-yachts circulating successful Monte Carlo connected contention weekend, that's a batch of wealth for a car.

So what volition you get successful return? For starters, nary licence plates. This car is way only, meaning it is not roadworthy ineligible and volition implicit astir each of its miles connected contention circuits astir the world. But erstwhile you're the arrogant proprietor of an RB17 connected 1 of those fast, flowing circuits, Red Bull says the car volition beryllium susceptible of matching F1 car levels of performance.

That seems similar a bold assertion -- until you see its source. The RB17 is the brainchild of Adrian Newey, Formula 1's astir revered aerodynamicist and 1 of the astir important minds down Red Bull's 15 titles to date. Newey claims helium conceived the thought of RB17 during his downtime implicit the Christmas of 2020, and helium remains committed to seeing the task to its completion contempt leaving the institution for F1 rivals Aston Martin past year.

Developed utilizing the aforesaid tools that crafted Max Verstappen's past 4 title-winning F1 cars, the hypercar has already logged immoderate promising numbers successful the simulation world. RBAT method manager Rob Gray, who has overseen the task from the archetypal pencil strokes connected Newey's drafting board, adds immoderate caution to the F1 thigh clip assertion but maintains it is inactive realistic.

"I'm ever rather cautious erstwhile I speech astir this, but successful the virtual satellite and successful the simulator, we're matching F1 thigh times," Gray told ESPN successful Monaco. "But arsenic I say, that's virtually, truthful there's a batch of assumptions going into that modeling.

"The guys won't convey maine for saying that, but determination are a batch of assumptions, truthful the impervious of the pudding volition beryllium erstwhile it gets onto the track. But we surely deliberation we're determination oregon thereabouts."

Unlike its F1 cousins built retired of the aforesaid mill successful Milton Keynes, the RB17 does not person to comply to immoderate rulebooks, making mind-bending show easier to engineer. And by being a track-only car, there's nary information for the assorted authorities government that would beryllium required to marque it roadworthy ineligible -- a important constituent of quality with Newey's past hypercar project, the Aston Matin Valkyrie.

But determination were inactive immoderate limiting factors guiding Newey's pencil, including the information of operator and rider successful the constrictive two-up cockpit.

"We had to determine what to bash successful presumption of safety," Gray explained. "So we did really determine to physique it to Le Mans Hypercar regulations from a information perspective, due to the fact that it conscionable felt similar the liable happening to do, and it stops america from chipping distant astatine that information successful the pursuit of performance. So that's the information side.

"And past I deliberation astir apt the biggest situation is tires. Michelin are doing a large occupation of processing the tyre for the car, but actually, fundamentally, keeping the loads wrong what the tires tin grip is the main challenge."

The RB17 produces truthful overmuch downforce that implicit a definite velocity its progressive bodywork adjusts to trim immoderate of it away.

"Downforce is determination astir 1.5 tons," Gray added. "And the happening is with the downforce is we person excessively overmuch of it arsenic the velocity goes up, truthful we person to backmost the wings disconnected and backmost the diffuser disconnected to bounds the magnitude of downforce, due to the fact that different we conscionable overload the tires. So, we could person overmuch much downforce, but we person to bounds it wherever the tires tin cope."

Because the car is yet designed to beryllium sold alternatively than raced, information was fixed to aesthetics arsenic good arsenic performance. Newey has described RB17 arsenic "a enactment of art" that customers should beryllium blessed to show successful their location -- and it's a anticipation that immoderate of the 50 cars volition go thing much than a depository pieces among the world's astir exotic car collections.

"I'm pleasantly amazed by however good we've managed to meld the styling broadside of it with the aero broadside of it," Gray said. "Having worked with Adrian successful F1, we'd ne'er had immoderate conception of styling, due to the fact that you conscionable don't connected the Formula 1 car. But I deliberation the information that we've been capable to incorporate, to marque it some aerodynamically precise businesslike but besides beauteous is simply a existent achievement.

"We've done that by having the styling guys moving truly intimately with the aero guys. So the aero guys designed their shapes and past we past gave that to the stylists, they enactment their mentation connected it and past we cheque that again successful the aero world. You spell astir this iterative process to get thing that some looks large and is doing the occupation it needs to do."

Along with progressive aerodynamics, the RB17 besides has progressive suspension and tin beryllium tuned to let drivers with a wide assortment of accomplishment levels to find their comfortableness portion down the wheel. Tire supplier Michelin volition besides supply customers with antithetic compounds for antithetic conditions, including treaded wets, slicks and a "confidential" tyre for ultimate, F1-level thigh times.

"There'll beryllium the modular slick tyre that you tin bargain and you tin person connected the car astatine home," Gray said. "And past there'll beryllium the super, ace accelerated tyre -- the confidential tyre -- that you tin lone tally if Michelin are present. They won't fto you support them, but that gives you the other fewer seconds alone."

It's those other fewer seconds of thigh clip that committedness to etch the lines of the RB17 successful the corporate minds of car enthusiasts for decades to come. And if there's 1 grounds that would genuinely acceptable the RB17 apart, it's that of the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

The 12.9-mile circuit successful Germany's Eifel mountains has agelong been considered the eventual trial of car and driver, to the grade that it precocious attracted Verstappen (under the alias Franz Hermann) during 1 of his non-F1 racing weekends. Taking portion successful a trial day, Verstappen acceptable an unofficial GT3 thigh grounds during his visit and has talked astir his tendency to contention astatine the circuit erstwhile his calendar allows.

After F1 cars stopped racing astatine the Nordschleife successful 1976, the outright thigh grounds was taken successful 1983 by Stefan Bellof's 6:11.13 qualifying thigh successful a Porsche 956 for the 1000 Kilometers of the Nürburgring. It stood for much than 3 decades until Porsche returned to the 'Ring successful 2018 with an adapted mentation of its 919 Hybrid LMP1 car and clocked a 5:19.546 with Timo Bernhard down the wheel.

A modern F1 car with its debased thrust and stiff suspension would apt conflict to find an effectual setup implicit the Nordschleife's bumps and undulations, but the RB17, with its F1 levels of show and progressive suspension, could beryllium to beryllium the cleanable Nürburgring weapon.

"I deliberation it volition beryllium precise competitive," Gray said erstwhile asked if the Nürburgring thigh grounds is connected Red Bull's radar. "I mean, it's not thing we truly absorption connected astatine the moment, but there's surely a definite operator who seems to beryllium precise funny successful that! So who knows?"

Over to you, Franz Hermann.