Aston Martin's mystery single-seater is back on track, and it still looks like nothing else on the grid or in a dealer.
New footage shared on Reddit shows the car lapping Paul Ricard in the south of France. It is the latest sighting of a machine that first appeared online in April and has since popped up at a private airfield and at Portimao in Portugal. So what is this fantastic-looking machine that Aston Martin has been radio silent about?
Half Formula 1 car, half hypercar
The design is maybe similar to a few other hypercars we've seen released over the past few years. From the cockpit forward, it borrows heavily from Formula 1, with a narrow nose, exposed suspension arms and what appears to be a halo over the cockpit. Further back, bodywork covers the wheels and the rear end looks closer to a Le Mans prototype, leaning on Aston's Valkyrie hypercar.
It is effectively a cross between an F1 car and a track-only Valkyrie, built with one aim: to go faster than either.
Built for one very wealthy customer
In April, German magazine Auto Motor und Sport reported that the car is a one-off commissioned by Ken Griffin, the American billionaire who founded the Citadel hedge fund. According to the report, Griffin asked Aston Martin for the fastest track car in the world. Aston had some fast cars, but it certainly didn't have the fastest. So it took to the drawing board.
The idea is understood to have started life as a concept shown to a small group of clients at Silverstone, with Aston Martin Performance Technologies, the engineering consultancy linked to its Formula 1 team, said to be overseeing development. Some reports have suggested Adrian Newey could be involved. While that remains to be confirmed, it does look like something that mad scientist would draw up in his famous notebook.
What powers it?
Nothing has been confirmed, but the soundtrack is giving us all the clues we need. Outlets that have heard the footage agree it sounds like the Cosworth-built 6.5-litre V12 used in the Valkyrie, which makes around 1,160hp with a bit of hybrid assistance in the road car.
Reports differ on whether this one-off keeps the hybrid system or runs the V12 on its own, as the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro does. Rumours put total output at roughly 1,200hp.
Faster than an F1 car?
The big, maybe worrying claim from Auto Motor und Sport is that the car could be much faster than an F1 car. And that makes sense, because in the world of serious-looking hypercars, there are very few regulations to build within, no minimum weights, and certainly no aero limitations. This means the possibilities are almost endless (depending on the budget you have behind the project).
If it is anywhere near that pace, it would be a serious contender for outright track records, including the Porsche 919 Evo's 5min 19.55sec lap of the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
It would not be the only car chasing that idea. Red Bull's RB17, developed under Newey before his move to Aston Martin, is aimed at a similar group of heavy-walleted buyers who want F1-beating pace.
For now, the one-off remains in testing, and Aston Martin is keeping quiet about when, or whether, it will show the finished car.