Sure, Infiniti has already built the Sebastian Vettel Edition FX50, but that only left us scratching our collective heads. Why would the World Driving Champion put his name on a crossover, instead of on a sport coupe or sport sedan?
Even with an additional 24 horsepower and a lower, stiffer suspension, the FX50 is no match for sport sedans, making it a niche product for markets like Europe and the Middle East.
The Sebastian Vettel Edition FX50 was likely a test-run for future co-branded products, including those with wider distribution. As Autocar tells us, Infiniti and Red Bull are in discussion about building a “proper high-performance edition” of a current Infiniti model.
In the words of Infiniti’s head of communications, Simon Sproule, “At the moment it is nothing more than a discussion, but it’s clear that the team would like to use its expertise in areas beyond F1, and we’d like to do something performance-wise with them.”
Sproule confirmed that the exercise would use an existing Infiniti model, and would be far more than just an Infiniti Red Bull Racing trim package. In fact, the project would only move forward if Red Bull was directly involved in the development of the new vehicle, meaning that the end result has the potential to be truly exciting.
Staying atop the world of F1 takes a significant amount of time and resource, so we’re not sure how much time Red Bull can devote to this project. If it does move forward, we wouldn’t expect to see anything tangible for a few years.