Christian Horner reveals Adrian Newey almost bankrupted Aston Martin while developing the Valkyrie hypercar

Christian Horner unveiled that Adrian Newey's efforts put Aston Martin's finances in jeopardy.

Adrian Newey and Christian Horner (Image via GPfans.com)

Adrian Newey is regarded as perhaps the biggest aero genius in Formula 1’s recent history. The Briton has designed some of the most dominant machines during his career for the likes of McLaren, Williams, and of course Red Bull. Although there was a time when the 64-year-old took a back seat and focused on developing the Valkyrie hypercar as a collaboration between Red Bull and Aston Martin. Christian Horner opens up about the expensive costs of the same.

Horner mentioned the new experience Milton Keynes had as it worked with an OEM like Aston Martin. The Red Bull team boss appreciated Adrian Newey for his outstanding efforts in the project. Although Christian jokingly stated that the aero genius certainly didn’t look into the finances before working on a project or even the Red Bull Racing finance department at Milton Keynes.

The Red Bull Team Principal admired the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar that set the bar for other hypercars for years. However, Newey’s rather amazing work came at a huge cost for the British automaker. Christian Horner said, “He created an incredible, incredible car, that almost bankrupted Aston Martin! But I mean, it is an absolute gem of a car.”

Discover: Who is the most successful American F1 driver of all time?

Christian Horner recalls lessons from the Valkyrie project

The Aston Martin Valkyrie (Image via Twitter)

Christian emphasized that the Valkyrie project allowed Newey and Red Bull to learn a lot more as the organization dealt with road stipulations for the first time. As such it allowed for Red Bull Advanced Technologies to gain immense knowledge that will certainly benefit the energy-drinks giant in the future. Christian Horner said, “I think will stand us in good stead for the future”

The Aston Martin Valkyrie remains a beast on wheels that showcased the true character of a hypercar thanks to the efforts put in by Adrian and his team. Albeit the British automaker was suffering from financial difficulties. Canadian Billionaire Lawrence Stroll led a consortium to save this iconic brand. In 2021, the Stroll-owned Racing Point F1 team was renamed Aston Martin, bringing an end to Red Bull’s collaborations with the carmaker.

https://twitter.com/DrivenByFury/status/1659184940427235328?s=20

Thus, Christian Horner admits that Adrian Newey did a stellar job while working on the Valkyrie hypercar. Although this car came at the expense of the financial situation of Aston Martin. Yet, the Valkyrie remains a testament to the work of aero genius Newey as well as the other talented personnel involved in the project.

In case you missed it:

Tags: Adrian newey Christian Horner

#About the Author

Armaan Agarwal

(2570 Articles Published)

Armaan Agarwal is a Motorsport Sub-editor and Content Manager at Firstsportz. He has written over 2500 articles with around 1000 edited pieces under his belt. Armaan has years of experience in the field of journalism, having followed Formula 1 and NASCAR for almost a decade. Nico Rosberg's title victory at the 2016 Abu Dhabi GP against Lewis Hamilton remains engraved in his memory. He started his journey with his own motorsport blog in 2017. At Firstsportz, Armaan provides deep insight into the sport for fans through his special editorial pieces. Armaan has several other skills, including social media content creation, script writing, and debating. He completed his Bachelors of Arts in Mass Communication with a gold medal from St. Xavier’s University Kolkata. Presently, he is pursuing his Post Graduation in Broadcast Journalism at the India Today Media Institute with a keen eye at the ever-evolving dynamics of a newsroom. Apart from motorsport, he is an avid reader and keeps himself up to date with current affairs.

Comments

Please login to join the discussion.

Be the first to comment!