Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has comically revealed that chief technical officer Adrian Newey “almost bankrupted Aston Martin”, whilst working on the stunning Aston Martin Valkyrie.
Newey was responsible for the bulk of the Valkyrie’s design; which Aston Martin are claiming to be the world’s fastest street-legal car.
Only 150 Valkyrie’s are set to made; however, thanks to Newey that number was close to being zero.
The hybrid sportscar has come about through a collaboration between Aston Martin Lagonda and Red Bull Racing Advanced Technologies, with Newey’s Formula 1 expertise having played an integral part in ensuring that the car is as fast as possible.
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Speed, though, comes at a price, a price that Newey seemingly cared very little about.
Horner joked that Newey “doesn’t know” where Red Bull’s finance department is situated, with him being focused purely on making sure whatever car he works on is as fast as possible.
Despite the hefty price, Horner believes it was a great experience, with Newey having designed a “gem of a car”.
“It was a very different experience, because working with an OEM, even a small OEM like Aston, obviously cost is absolutely driven into anything in everything they do,” Horner told the Financial Times.
“And of course, we’ve got Adrian Newey, who probably doesn’t know where our finance department even is!
“He created an incredible, incredible car, that almost bankrupted Aston Martin! But I mean, it is an absolute gem of a car.”
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Horner added that the Milton Keynes-based team learned “many lessons” whilst working on the Valkyrie, mostly due to how strict the regulations are for a car to be deemed as street-legal, something which often sees several sportscars never leave the factory.
“And many lessons of course, we have a set of regulations in Formula 1, but they’re nothing like the road stipulations and regulations, so it was a huge learning exercise from that side of things,” added Horner.
“And yeah, it was an interesting exercise and one that the Advanced Technology side of our business learned a huge amount from, and I think will stand us in good stead for the future.”