Aston Martin has denied Red Bull’s allegations that it may have illegally spied data from the RB18 for the AMR22’s Barcelona update.
“I don’t know where these allegations that Red Bull are talking about come from,” said Aston Martin CTO Andrew Green. “All I can say is that at no time have we received any data from any team or anyone else.”
That is in contrast to a statement by Helmut Marko. The Red Bull motorsport consultant caused a stir on Friday with a “Sky” interview in which he claimed that there was “evidence” that “data was downloaded”. By whom and from where, however, that remained open.
Green, meanwhile, maintains that Aston Martin developed the update “late last year”, long before Red Bull first publicly showed its radical side case design on February 23 at the start of the second winter test in Barcelona.
Did Aston Martin have the side box idea before Red Bull?
They were on a “double path”, explains Green, and it was “a shock” and “also a surprise” that Red Bull came up with a similar concept. That strengthened our feeling that we were different from the two Because of what we explored, ended up taking the wrong one.”
With the Barcelona update, Aston Martin says it is going back to the development path that was already taken in 2021. Red Bull’s allegations are “disappointing” for Lawrence Stroll’s team, who have been accused of plagiarism for the second time in two years (and found guilty on the first).
“Especially against the background that the FIA has already commented on it,” emphasizes Green. “They’ve been with us and looked around and realized that it’s all legitimate and independent work. They’re the ones who have access to all the data – not just ours, but all the teams’.”
For Aston Martin, Friday’s FIA statement is “closed,” says Green, but pledges full cooperation should there be a second investigation for any reason. He rules out the possibility that anything would come of it, especially since the update was created long before the seven Red Bull employees in question came to Aston Martin.
Red Bull: FIA got the ball rolling
The accusations from Red Bull and Marko are therefore “far from it” – even if Red Bull didn’t get the matter rolling themselves: “The FIA drew our attention to the fact that there is a car that looks amazing like ours “, reveals team boss Christian Horner in an interview with ‘Sky’.
“The FIA has requested a list of the employees who have left us. Of course, the alarm bells are ringing,” says Horner. Information that such employees carry in their heads is legitimate. But: “What is not fair and totally unacceptable, which we would not accept either, is a transfer of intellectual property.”
Concrete demand: Is there evidence for this? Horner remains vague: “I’m not going to reveal exactly where we are with specific people.” If something came out of it, it would be a clear criminal offense in his eyes, “because intellectual property is the blood in a team’s veins. We invest millions in it and we don’t want it to end up with another team.”
As a first step, Horner announces an “internal investigation” at Red Bull in Milton Keynes: “We know exactly who is looking at which parts of our software and from where it is controlled.” Ensuring that any transfer of intellectual property is sanctioned is ultimately the task of the FIA.
Horner’s not so much about his own team: “It’s not a big issue for us as long as Aston Martin doesn’t start beating us,” he grins. “But it could have an impact on the teams in midfield. From our side, it’s primarily about ensuring that our intellectual property is protected and that misuse is ruled out.”