Aston Martin ‘disappointed’ by Red Bull ‘accusations’ over Spain upgrade

Aston Martin is “disappointed” by Red Bull accusing them of potentially receiving secret IP data to design their upgraded 2022 car.

While many teams brought new parts to the Spanish Grand Prix, the Silverstone-based outfit attracted the most attention early in the weekend as a revised sidepod and floor design shared a striking resemblance to the RB18.

Given Aston Martin is the same team that made the so-called ‘Pink Mercedes’ when it was Racing Point in 2020, it immediately led to questions over how they had created another apparent copycat car.

Although Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache admits he was delighted to see it.

“I was quite surprised to see a copy, quite satisfied that they copied us to be honest because it means we didn’t do a bad job,” he said in Barcelona.

“I think for us the main aspect is to be sure that it was done within the rules. The FIA have checked and now it looks like we have to check on our side if we have had any IP [intellectual property] leak.

“That is a main asset of the team. We want to make sure of that. That is what we are investigating at the moment.

“From a personal and engineering aspect, it was quite satisfying that some other team has copied us. It means our concept is not so bad.”

The IP accusation comes from the fact numerous staff from Red Bull have recently joined Aston Martin.

And though team boss Christian Horner admits it is inevitable some knowledge will have been carried over in their heads, the possibility that actual data about the RB18 could have been transferred would be a criminal offence.

“I don’t know what these accusations are that Red Bull is thinking about,” chief technical officer Andy Green responded.

“All I can say is that at no stage did we receive any data from any team, from anyone.

“This car was conceived in the middle of last year, as a dual-route with the launch car.

“The majority of the releases were made before anybody from Red Bull even turned up, so I think the accusations are very wide of the mark.

“I am disappointed, especially with the fact that the FIA came in and did a thorough investigation and examined all the data leading up in the history of this car.

“They interviewed all the people involved and concluded that it was a completely independent development.”

Though Red Bull is pursuing the matter with an internal investigation to see whether any IP data had been taken, Aston Martin believes the controversy is already over.

“We expect this to be the end, but if the FIA wanted to come back in again and do further investigations, we’re more than happy for them to do so,” Green said.

“We’ve been completely open and honest with them through the whole process. We’ve given them every access that they’ve requested.

“If they want to come back and do some more [checks], I’m more than happy for that to happen.”