Some automakers support their own works racing teams. Some racing teams conversely end up spawning manufacturers of road-going supercars. Red Bull, of course, is a beverage company that has successfully broken into grand prix racing, but it could get into the road-car business at some point in the near future.
Commenting on the prospect at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner told Autocar that the idea "is still being talked about" in the halls of the outfit's headquarters in Milton Keynes, and that it "hasn't been ruled out for the future." Of course that's far from a confirmation of any such project taking hold, but it's enough to keep hopes alive.
Though Red Bull has yet to produce its own road car, it has some experience collaborating on such projects. It lent a hand (or at least its star driver did) in developing the FX Sebastian Vettel Version for its title sponsor Infiniti, and was said to have played an even bigger role with the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge project. Unfortunately neither has been put into any serious quantity of production. Red Bull was, however, also one of the pioneers in the Vision Gran Turismo trend, designing fantastical pseudo-racing cars for digital entertainment that ended up looking something like the Caparo T1.
The prospects of a Red Bull supercar you could buy (at least theoretically) were fueled last year when the team's legendary designer and chief engineer Adrian Newey stepped back from his trackside role to "work on new Red Bull Technology projects." Details of that project were set to "be announced in due course," but have not yet been forthcoming, over a year later now. However his boss and longtime collaborator Horner told Autocar that "It's something that Adrian is keen to do as a legacy project."
It wouldn't be without precedent, after all. After years of designing victorious racing cars, Gordon Murray led the McLaren F1 project that effectively put that team onto the road for the first time. McLaren Automotive is now a full-fledged manufacturer of road-going supercars. Ferrari, of course, followed a similar path decades before. Williams, for its part, has collaborated on road car projects like the aborted Jaguar C-X75 turbine-hybrid supercar concept and the Renault Clio Williams hot hatch, but has limited its participation in any such projects to a consultancy basis. If and when Red Bull might take the plunge remains a big question mark, but we'd look forward to seeing what it might cook up.
Commenting on the prospect at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner told Autocar that the idea "is still being talked about" in the halls of the outfit's headquarters in Milton Keynes, and that it "hasn't been ruled out for the future." Of course that's far from a confirmation of any such project taking hold, but it's enough to keep hopes alive.
Though Red Bull has yet to produce its own road car, it has some experience collaborating on such projects. It lent a hand (or at least its star driver did) in developing the FX Sebastian Vettel Version for its title sponsor Infiniti, and was said to have played an even bigger role with the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge project. Unfortunately neither has been put into any serious quantity of production. Red Bull was, however, also one of the pioneers in the Vision Gran Turismo trend, designing fantastical pseudo-racing cars for digital entertainment that ended up looking something like the Caparo T1.
The prospects of a Red Bull supercar you could buy (at least theoretically) were fueled last year when the team's legendary designer and chief engineer Adrian Newey stepped back from his trackside role to "work on new Red Bull Technology projects." Details of that project were set to "be announced in due course," but have not yet been forthcoming, over a year later now. However his boss and longtime collaborator Horner told Autocar that "It's something that Adrian is keen to do as a legacy project."
It wouldn't be without precedent, after all. After years of designing victorious racing cars, Gordon Murray led the McLaren F1 project that effectively put that team onto the road for the first time. McLaren Automotive is now a full-fledged manufacturer of road-going supercars. Ferrari, of course, followed a similar path decades before. Williams, for its part, has collaborated on road car projects like the aborted Jaguar C-X75 turbine-hybrid supercar concept and the Renault Clio Williams hot hatch, but has limited its participation in any such projects to a consultancy basis. If and when Red Bull might take the plunge remains a big question mark, but we'd look forward to seeing what it might cook up.
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