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Szafnauer on Aston Martin updates: 'Had to start before RB18 went public'

Szafnauer on Aston Martin updates: 'Had to start before RB18 went public'

21-05-2022 09:02 Last update: 22-05-2022 17:09
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GPblog.com

Aston Martin has received the green light from the FIA regarding the development of the AMR22. According to the international motorsport federation, Lawrence Stroll's team has acted according to the rules, but Red Bull Racing doesn't believe much of that. Otmar Szafnauer is watching this new protest with interest. He believes that the updates started before the Red Bull was shown publically. 

Szafnauer, now team principal at Alpine, worked for Aston Martin until last year. As such, he naturally witnessed certain phases of the development of the 2022 car. He is surprised by the fact that the new Aston Martin car looks so much like the RB18 of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Szafnauer on copy RB18

"It makes no sense to copy the last [racing team], you copy the front one," Szafnauer tells AS. "But you have to remember that Aston Martin took fourteen people from Red Bull the for aerodynamics department and so on. Guess what they're going to do? .... I don't know if this is copy based on photos, but I think this must have started before the Red Bull was shown to the public in February. This goes back to before there were pictures. There is controversy."

It is not the first time that a team of Stroll Sr. is suspected of copying parts. In 2020, parts of the Mercedes were copied one-to-one. The FIA concluded that this violated the sporting regulations and handed out a fine of 400,000 euros. In addition, the then Racing Point had to surrender fifteen World Championship points.