Aero wizard Adrian Newey spills the beans on the ‘missing’ Red Bull RB17

Red Bull Racing's Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey has weighed in on the RB17 that failed to mark its existence in the realm of Formula 1.

A decade ago, in 2014, when the Turbo-Hybrid era commenced, Mercedes was supposedly the sole benefactor as the German team raked in consecutive Constructors titles until the end of the 2021 season. Lewis Hamilton collected a staggering 6 F1 world titles, and his then-teammate, Nico Rosberg, sealed a solitary title in 2016.

However, with the new regulations entering the scene, the focus shifted to the car's aerodynamic profile rather than the combustion of engines. This is where the Milton Keynes-based outfit exercised its dominance behest aero wizard Adrian Newey's superior design concepts.

The years 2022 and 2023 saw Red Bull reign supreme over the Silver Arrows, consecutively robbing them of the highly-coveted title. The Austrian energy drink giant entered F1 in 2005 with their car named the RB1.

RB stands for Red Bull, and the numerical value of the car progressed as the seasons did. The year 2021 was supposed to be for RB17, but it never became a reality.

It was in 2022 when the new rules came into being and the same concept was put forth as RB18, whereas the to-be RB17, in which Max Verstappen won his first-ever world title, was rebadged as RB16B.

Adrian Newey revealed the reason behind the non-existence of RB17, saying (via F1 official website):

“What caused it [RB17] was Covid, effectively. The RB16 was the car we raced in 2020. That was then going to be replaced by RB17 for the 2021 season, but with Covid getting in the way, the regulations changed.

He added:

“We had to race the 2020 car in modified form for 2021, so RB17 as an F1 car was never ever built, because then when we did the ’22 car that was christened RB18, so 17 was always a missing number."

The RB17 has been linked to an 1100 bhp hypercar project under Red Bull Advanced Technologies, which will be put into production from 2025 onwards and will be up for grabs for a mere 50 people.

Aramco could poach Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey if their Aston Martin dream comes to fruition

Aston Martin F1 team is owned by Lawrence Stroll and the cars are fielded by Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. Aramco plays the role of primarily sponsoring the AMR24 and strengthened its bond with the team when it announced itself as the title sponsor in December 2023.

The Saudi Arabian Oil giant is reportedly looking to own 100% of the company. Furthermore, Lawrence Stroll's sale of a minority stake to a US-based firm in November 2023 hints at a possible exit of the 64-year-old billionaire businessman from the team. On top of that, his alleged share sales to a Saudi Arabia-based sovereign wealth fund sparked massive rumors regarding the takeover.

According to formula1.uno, reigning world champion Max Verstappen, and aerodynamics pundit Adrian Newey could be poached if ownership changes, given the turmoil in Red Bull's paddock as the team principal is embroiled in an intra-organization controversy.