Adrian Newey continues to advise Red Bull on the RB17.

      Adrian Newey parted ways with Red Bull a year ago and now heads Aston Martin F1, but he still oversees the process of upgrading his latest creation, made together with the team from Milton Keynes.

      British magazine Top Gear writes about an upgraded version of the RB17 hypercar, which is considered final and even differs visually from the original that was once presented at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. At the front of this remarkable car, designed primarily for race tracks, distinctive LED lights reminiscent of hockey sticks and pronounced air intakes have appeared, and an impressively sized aerodynamic fin-stabilizer has sprouted on the engine cover.

      It turns out this version of the RB17 even differs slightly in size from the original — it has become a bit more compact, and overall it can be compared to a modern Formula 1 car.

      "Adrian is permitted to consult with us; he is still interested in what is happening with this project," Top Gear quotes Rob Gray, technical director of Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the team's technology division, as saying. "We know how he wanted this car to be, and if we need Adrian, he is always ready to pick up the phone. One of the latest changes he made was relocating the exhaust outlets to the spine of the engine cover. This is a fairly major rework, which required a lot of work on heat insulation to prevent any components from catching fire."

      One can imagine what sound this exhaust system produces when mated to the 4.5-liter V10 engine built by Cosworth specifically for the RB17. The maximum crankshaft revs reach 15,000 rpm, and power is around 1,000 hp. But there is also a hybrid component, and an electric motor adds another 200 hp to the power unit, contributing to more dynamic acceleration, and it also engages in several other situations — for example, the car moves in reverse using electric drive only.

      Back on the topic of sound: it's said Newey most of all loved the distinctive "voice" of the McLaren MP4/15 he created for the Woking team in 2000, so he insisted that the RB17 sound similar. Rumor has it he succeeded.