What Adrian Newey should do next

Will it be a yacht? Will it be a spaceship? Will it be a road car?

For now Red Bull is keeping schtum about exactly what 'new technology' projects Adrian Newey is going to be working on when he starts the transition to a life no longer fully focused on Formula 1. There will be no official word about what it is until later this summer.

But for a man who's so frustrated with the handcuffs that have been clamped down on his innovation by ever-tighter Formula 1 restrictions, what he should do is be given a clean sheet of paper for his drawing board to come up with the ultimate racing car. Forget being confined by maximum wing sizes, fuel-flow restrictions and a ban on clever technology, Newey should be given one simple task: make it extreme.

The idea of such an epic racing car is nothing new, for a few years ago Red Bull worked with video-game series Gran Turismo to help pen such a machine - although it proved to be so fast real humans would have struggled to physically cope with it, should it have been built.

The X1 closed-cockpit concept had a three-litre turbo V6 engine that produced 1483bhp - with a theoretical top speed of 249mph and delivering a potential 6g through the corners. Later versions of it also included more bodywork over the cockpit and wheels, plus a fan that sucked the car on to the ground. Estimates suggest that version could reach 312mph - and produce up to 8g of cornering force.

When Sebastian Vettel tried out the car on a simulator, he broke the lap record around Suzuka by more than 20 seconds. Impressive stuff.

But while there would be little point in producing such a car in reality (just think of the safety implications), what mouth-watering delights could Newey come up with if asked to create the proper, ultimate racing car for the proper, ultimate racing championship in the real world?

Could something like this be in Newey's future?

As Gran Turismo's creator Kazunori Yamauchi's originally tasked Newey: "If you built the fastest racing car on land, one that throws aside all rules and regulations, what would that car look like, how would it perform, and how would it feel to drive?"

Forget worrying about performance limitations - as long as it can drive on currents tracks. Forget worrying about compromises because that's the way F1 has always done it. Forget needing to follow any kind of rule book beyond the simple mantra of making it ultimate.

Let's bring back some of the banned (but exciting) concepts that F1 has moved away from. We want ground effect, four-wheel steering, independent braking systems, active suspension, flexible wings, the best F-duct ever - but of course no traction control for whatever super powerful engine and hybrid systems the car has.

And when the concept is finished, and the car is ready to race, what about Red Bull taking it to the next step and delivering it as a championship?

For in an era when people are chasing a more extreme buzz - either as spectators or participants - it could easily sell television rights, an internet package and deliver the perfect social media platform for a thrill-a-minute series around the world. Who would not be excited by the fastest, most technologically advanced racing cars, which would of course have attracted the best drivers in the world?

And with Red Bull making the most of the marketing opportunities to ensure there was the right revenue to fund the series, what limit would there be on how big the championship could become? Especially at a time when F1 appears to be going through something of a crisis of confidence with conflict between teams, criticisms of the format, and a row over costs leading to a cloud of negativity hanging over the paddock.

Could a Red Bull World Grand Prix Championship become a threat to F1?

Let's see what comes out of that new innovation centre in Milton Keynes.