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Aston Martin Red Bull Partnership Plans To Hit The Road With The Fastest Hypercar Yet

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 05:06 PST, Mar 17, 2016

Aston Martin and Red Bull are teaming up in the most high-octane partnership since Brian O’Conner and Dominic Toretto. If you don’t know who those people are, they’re Paul Walker and Vin Diesel’s characters from the Fast and Furious movie franchise. Thankfully, this partnership isn’t being founded on an undercover police officer and a street racing guru becoming unlikely allies. Instead, it’s Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey of Red Bull Racing, and Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman.

Most people might not consider Aston Martin and Red Bull having much in common. Aston Martin has developed a kind of classy public image, even having been the car of choice in the James Bond film series. Red Bull is an energy drink which had been forced in recent years to stop using the slogan insinuating that it “gives you wings.” It was considered to be in the same advertising realm as Mountain Dew, a soft drink often seen alongside extreme sports.

This partnership might sound like something that would end in the creation of the Batmobile, but their aim is anything but a mode of transportation for a caped crusader. Instead, Aston Martin and Red Bull are planning to make what they’re calling the fastest hypercar ever. The vehicle will be entirely street legal, but it’s made for racing on the track.

Making a street-legal automobile may be a strange idea for a Formula One company like Red Bull, but it also gives them the freedom to bypass the restrictions usually placed on competitive vehicles. In normal words, you won’t need a roll cage to maintain a safe ride. Don’t expect the AM-RB 001 (Project Nebula) to be joining traffic on your way to Walmart, though, unless there is a big race coming up and the driver is on his or her way to the track.

This is a historic opportunity for Aston Martin, whose only previous efforts in F1 racing were back in 1960. Their vehicles had failed to compete, and they focused instead on high-end passenger vehicles until now. It was clear that their Grand Prix ambitions couldn’t happen without help.

The AM-RB 001, an amalgamation of the companies’ names, is still in its concept phases for now. It will bring Red Bull’s F1 credentials to life with an Aston Martin sense of style and aerodynamics to create a street-legal vehicle they hope will shatter the record of 261 miles per hour. They are attempting to outdo the new Bugatti Chiron and make a car capable of redefining speed in the Grand Prix.

Team principal Christian Horner has extremely high hopes for the new hypercar.

“This is a very exciting project for everyone at Red Bull Racing. Through this Innovation Partnership the iconic Aston Martin logo will return to Grand Prix racing for the first time since 1960, and Red Bull Advanced Technologies, led by Newey, will be using Formula One DNA to produce the ultimate of all road cars.”

Adrian Newey is also hoping that the Red Bull and Aston Martin partnership helps him realize his childhood dreams.

“From the age of six I have had two goals in life – to be involved in the design of racing cars, and to be involved in the design of a super car. Whilst the former ambition went on to form my career to date, the latter has always bubbled away, resulting in countless sketches and doodles over the years.

“The opportunity to now develop and [realize] those ideas [while] working with Marek and his colleagues from Aston Martin is tremendously exciting. It allows us to translate the technology we have developed in F1 into a new arena.”

The new hypercar from Aston Martin and Red Bull should see physical designs by the end of the year, and possibly put expectations to the test in 2017.

[Photo by Andrew Hone/Getty Images]

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