With a statement from the FIA, a riot between the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and Aston Martin seemed to have been nipped in the bud on Friday, but the copying behavior could still have a tail. Was it good copying or outright theft? All the ingredients for a detective drama are there.
The ball started rolling from the moment the heavily modified Aston Martin AMR22 was first seen on Thursday. The new sidepods, the floor and all the aerodynamic elements that are attached to it are very similar to what Red Bull has on the car.
Now ‘better stolen well than badly invented yourself’ is a celebrated motto in Formula 1, but there is usually no question of literally stealing. The question of whether this is now the case remains to be answered. But put all facets in a row, and Aston Martin gets the appearances against.
The team already has a reputation in this area
- In 2020, at the start of the season, it casually unveiled an almost true-to-life copy of the Mercedes with which Lewis Hamilton became world champion in 2019. And they pretty much got away with it. The FIA only managed to get hold of the team on copied cooling of the rear brakes, which (obviously) had been adopted on one from Mercedes. Bizarrely, team owner Lawrence Stroll went so far as to record a video message lashing out at anyone accusing his team of illegal activities.
Impatient team owner
- That same Stroll, Lance’s father, would like to see his team at the front of the grid. The wealthy Canadian is a man you can safely stamp the stamp of ‘accustomed to success’, so there is no question of much patience. Add that to Aston Martin’s recent poor performance and the question is just how far the tech department will go to satisfy the boss.
Aston Martin recently shopped a lot at Red Bull Racing
- Last winter, for example, it took over head of aerodynamics Dan Fallows. Red Bull let him go with fresh reluctance, because according to Helmut Marko Fallows was offered a “disproportionately high salary”. Meer Fallows was not alone: a total of seven Red Bull employees left for Aston Martin.
Aston Martin got off to a bad start
- For all teams, the cars of 2022 were a big puzzle, which has not been solved equally well by everyone. The Red Bull is normally the fastest car on the grid at the moment, while Aston Martin has so far not been involved. According to Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack, there was “some flexibility built into the design” to respond quickly to successful finds from others. From Red Bull, for example. Nice and easy too, because updates are expensive and everyone has to stick to a budget limit.
‘It is fair to keep knowledge in the head’
The big question now is whether Aston Martin has studied the Red Bull extremely well and simply copied it well. For the time being, the FIA assumes that the latter is the case, but Marko and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner are not convinced.
The possibility that Aston Martin literally has the design and all data of the Red Bull is not completely ruled out. “It is no coincidence that a few of us have switched to Aston Martin this winter and at the beginning of this season,” Horner said on Friday.
Horner is fine with employees who change team taking ideas in their heads to a new employer. “That’s their knowledge, so that’s fair. But if data is literally taken with our intellectual property, that is unacceptable. We invest millions in that, you can judge someone for that.”
The similarities are mainly between the front and rear wheels. The shape of the sidepods and the edge of the floor are almost the same.
The similarities are mainly between the front and rear wheels. The shape of the sidepods and the edge of the floor are almost the same. Photo: Getty Images
FIA itself sounded the alarm at Red Bull
It was the FIA itself that sounded the alarm at Red Bull. Aston Martin took a sample look at the updates the team had prepared for the Spanish Grand Prix. Horner received a call that a car that looked very similar to the Red Bull RB18 had been found. “The FIA wanted to know who had recently left us. Then the alarm bells went off.”
Horner also looks to the FIA, who control all the data, software and designs that teams use, including whether they show up with other teams. “It’s their job to be on top of that,” the Briton said.
The FIA did indeed investigate, but after examining all the information concluded that Aston Martin had followed the rules. For example, photos may not be literally converted into so-called CAD design drawings and there may be no transfer of intellectual property between teams.
According to the enforcers, this was not the case. “But designs can be influenced by those of the competition, it has always been that way in Formula 1,” the FIA said in a statement.
Christian Horner in the pit box in Barcelona
Christian Horner in the pit box in Barcelona Photo: Getty Images
‘Definitely downloaded information’
But Red Bull doesn’t trust the matter yet. Marko told German media on Friday that data from his design department would have been downloaded. Horner didn’t want to go further than that he “didn’t want to reveal how his team is dealing with certain individuals.”
Aston Martin technical director Andrew Green responded to those allegations on Friday. “I don’t know what they’re talking about. We haven’t received any data from anyone. The FIA has investigated it thoroughly and talked to everyone. It was a completely independent development. This car was already designed halfway through last year. Then the Red Bull staff were there. not there yet.”
Aston Martin is therefore still safe for the time being, but if Red Bull gets a hold of the search, then measures will follow. As a Racing Point, the team was fined 400,000 euros in 2020 and fifteen points deducted. That was only for brake cooling.
That is still little compared to the fine that McLaren received as a result of ‘spygate’ in 2007. Then the British team turned out to be in possession of the complete design of the car of competitor Ferrari. The penalty: A $100 million fine and expulsion from the 2007 Constructors’ Championship.