Aston Martin Valkyrie

Has it been worth the wait? We first told you about the joint plans of Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing to produce a hypercar designed by Formula 1 ace Adrian Newey – the Aston Martin Valkyrie - all the way back in 2015. The journey from there to here has been long and complex, with the Valkyrie project outlasting the tenure of two Aston Martin CEOs. But now, with most of the 150 customer cars delivered, we are finally getting a turn behind the wheel.

And what a turn it is. The Bahrain International Circuit might seem to offer a limited opportunity to sample any car for the first time, but it is one of the few venues capable of allowing the 1140bhp Valkyrie to stretch its legs. The first question is answered long before I leave the pit lane for the first time: yes, this is undoubtedly the most extreme factory-built car to legally wear numberplates. Other cars might be within the frame of reference of its astonishing performance – but none of them is road legal.

To call the Valkyrie a tour de force sells it short. Pretty much every part of it is a testament to Newey’s refusal to compromise his original vision. Aston chief designer Miles Nurnberger, freshly returned to the sports car maker from his brief stint as Dacia’s styling boss, recalls having to quote millimetres with decimal places in discussions with Newey to prove his team weren’t being slapdash with the Valkyrie’s closely guarded dimensions. In one meeting, he extracted an unprecedented 8mm concession to expand the passenger compartment – something that won a round of applause from the engineering team.

Not that the finished car feels in any way spacious. I rode in the Valkyrie in 2021 sitting next to then CEO Tobias Moers on the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the experience showed that two occupants are never going to be able to share the narrow cockpit with any semblance of comfort, although I suspect owners will have no difficulty finding volunteers willing to squeeze themselves in.

It is much better with a single occupant, beyond the indignity of limboing over the huge side pods and narrow door. Once installed, leg room proves reasonable, the pedal box moves – although the footwell is tight. Elbow space is constrained by the side of the tub, and the need to wear a helmet means the bucket seat’s minimal lower padding has been removed to stop my head from hitting the roof. This is at a less than lanky 5ft 11in.

The view from the driver’s seat is like sitting in a high-tech Group C racer. The Valkyrie’s canopy-style windscreen seems impossibly curved. (Creating a windscreen wiper mechanism that turns the blade to maintain contact was another tricky engineering challenge required for road homologation.) A small video screen sits at each side for the rear-view cameras and there’s a small touchscreen, Aston’s first.

Almost all the controls are integrated into the squared-off steering wheel, including toggles for the three chassis settings – Urban, Sport and Track – plus the ERS button, which gives a boost of recovered electrical urge through the 141bhp electric motor that sits between the 6.5-litre V12 and seven-speed sequential gearbox. The e-motor also works to fill the torque gap between gearshifts.

The good news in Bahrain is that the Valkyrie’s active suspension system and stability control are now functional. They weren’t when I rode shotgun at Goodwood. In Track mode, the Valkyrie reduces its ride height to improve downforce, which is managed by an array of active winglets and flaps that are able to produce a collective peak of up to 1100kg of aerodynamic assistance.

There is no surprise that the Cosworth-developed V12 is the highlight of highlights. Even starting it feels special, as the engine turns for several seconds before it fires to build oil pressure. Although I’m wearing a helmet, it is still savagely loud at a 1000rpm idle – with another 10,000rpm to go – and vibration zings through the seat. The cogs that drive the gear-driven camshaft sit at the bulkhead end of the V12, so they’re just inches behind occupants’ heads.

Getting rolling is easy. The axial flux motor of the hybrid system that sits between engine and gearbox can provide low-speed drive for manoeuvring – one of the reasons there is no reverse gear. The Valkyrie isn’t electric enough to power itself with the engine off, but it rumbles off the line smoothly until the clutch engages.

Even on a wide, open and otherwise empty track, getting to full throttle feels like an adventure. Pushing the throttle delivers a visceral thrill from the speed at which the engine reacts. There is no delay, just instant thrust, delivered at a rate that feels close to the immediacy of a high-end EV but continues to grow as revs rise.