Adrian Newey Reveals How an Amateur’s Triumph Over F1 Drivers Proves RB17’s Mettle Against F1 Cars

Designed by the legendary Adrian Newey and Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the RB17 was already hyped for its potential to deliver F1-level performance in a road-car-like package. Now, Newey has revealed an extraordinary feat that elevates the RB17 in a league above even F1 cars.

During a conversation on the Talking Bull podcast, Newey discussed the unique philosophy behind the RB17. The car was designed not just for professional drivers but also for amateurs wanting to experience the feeling of driving at F1-level speeds.

Newey then made a startling revelation: an amateur driver, using the RB17 in a simulator, managed to set a lap time at Silverstone that would have beaten the pole position time of F1 drivers by one second. He shared,

“We actually had one of our customers on the simulator the other day who’s not a professional but a very good amateur driver, and he, in the driving simulator, would have been on pole at Silverstone by 1 second in the car.”

The idea that an amateur in a hypercar could outperform F1 drivers is almost unimaginable. However, not everyone is convinced of the RB17’s supremacy over F1 cars.

Ex-Mercedes engineer finds claims about the RB17 hard to believe

Former Mercedes aerodynamicist, Kyle Forster has expressed doubts about the RB17’s capabilities, pointing out potential weaknesses in the design that might prevent it from achieving the said claims.

Forster’s skepticism comes from his analysis of the RB17’s downforce-to-weight ratio compared to that of a modern F1 car. “With a 900 kg car and these downforce numbers (1,700 kilos of downforce at 240 km/hour which equates to an SCx of about 6.1), they are claiming that this car can lap similar to a modern F1 car,” Forster explained on his YouTube channel.

He pointed out that the RB17 has considerably less downforce relative to its weight than an F1 car, which raises questions about its ability to match or exceed F1 lap times. Forster also highlighted the car’s power-to-weight ratio and top speed, noting that they are comparable to those of an F1 car, but not superior.

However, Forster did acknowledge that the car presented at Goodwood was an earlier development model and not the final product. He theorized that Red Bull might still be refining the car (which has now been confirmed by Newey), which could bring it closer to the claims made by Red Bull and Newey.