F1 News: Red Bull Believes “Data Has Been Downloaded” Over Aston Martin Copycat
After Aston Martin revealed their new AMR22 on Friday ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, suddenly all eyes were on the similarities between it and the Red Bull. This was escalated to the FIA who found that no regulations had been broken, but Red Bull is keen to keep their investigation going.
Team chief Christian Horner said that there was “no coincidence” behind the Aston changes, especially as a number of Red Bull employees moved from Red Bull to Aston Martin at the beginning of the year. A transfer of IP would be a “serious concern” for the team.
Technical director Pierre Wache always admitted that he was “surprised” to see the similarities:
“For us, the main aspect was to be sure that it was done within the rules,” Wache told the press.
“The FIA checked, and it looks like [it was]. We on our side now are to check that we don’t have any IP leak. That is the main asset of the team. We want to make sure of that, that is what we are investigating at the moment.
“As a personal engineering aspect, it was satisfying that a team copied us. It means our concept is not so bad.”
Helmut Marko, however, has raised concerns over the moving of employees from Red Bull to Aston Martin:
“Now you have to clarify how this incredible copy came about.
“As things stand, it’s okay. Copying isn’t forbidden.
“But you also have to take into account seven people were poached from us and our chief aerodynamicist was brought to Aston Martin for a disproportionate amount of money.
“There are also some facts we are investigating. We will investigate this in great detail. It’s not just Dan Fallows.”
He continued:
“There is evidence that data has been downloaded.
“It’s just the question: copying is probably not prohibited to begin with, but can you copy without documents in such a way you can get such a detailed copy of our car?”
