No, there is nothing wrong with the colors of your screen. The B version of the Aston Martin AMR22 does indeed look like the Red Bull RB18, albeit in green. The team that already came up with a pink Mercedes in 2020 seems to have pulled a copy trick again. And this time he copied at Red Bull.
When Aston Martin was still going through life as Racing Point, the copying behavior already earned the formation the nickname Copy Point – while the entire copying saga, according to proper Formula 1 use, naturally led to copy gate was baptized. Two years later, there seems to be a new soap opera or even riot in the making, after Aston Martin rolled out ‘the green Red Bull’ at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Thursday.
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That the mantra ‘better stolen well than badly thought’ is almost a motto for designers in Formula 1, cannot even be called an open secret. Teams do everything they can to copy each other: from studying video images to old-fashioned peeping at the neighbors in the pits or paddock to hiring special ‘espionage photographers’ or taking over staff.
Also read: About the pink Mercedes, copying and copying: This is how you copy an F1 car
Angry Bulls
However, as colorful as Aston Martin predecessor Racing Point made it in 2020, it was rare in modern Formula 1. That the same team now seems to have borrowed from Red Bull – which has so far created one of the top cars of 2022 with the RB18 – however, it is also spicy for another reason. And that reason is called Dan Fallows.
Fallows was employed by Red Bull until mid-2021, where he was chief aerodynamics. Then Aston Martin announced that it had attracted him. Red Bull put a stop to that and went to court. Both sides faced each other, but in January this year there was white smoke: Aston Martin and Red Bull had reached an agreement and Fallows was allowed to start at Aston Martin on April 2.
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Red Bull is probably not amused that the overhauled Aston Martin now looks so much like the RB18, is to be expected. The fact that the team is very suspicious of the recognizable design, precisely because of the switch from Fallows, is of course also a logical addition. In addition, his switch did not go well.
Also read: Red Bull and leader Fallows to court for Aston Martin switch
Signature
‘The green Red Bull’, as an employee of another racing stable the Aston Martin also called, can of course count on the necessary interest from the other teams in the paddock. Especially so early in the year after a major regulation change, teams often look at each other to see who has come up with what concepts and what does or does not work (and better) than what you have come up with yourself.
Fallows’ switch from Red Bull to Aston Martin, the fact that Aston Martin has a reputation for copying and maintains a close relationship with Red Bull’s old rival Mercedes may well push the soap further. Has a new copy riot been born? As a mechanic from another team noted, “Fallows’ signature looks like it’s on that car.”
tweet: Tobi Gruner† Albert Fabrega†
