F1 News: Red Bull Reveals “Data Has Been Downloaded” After Aston Martin Plagiarism

Speculation over Red Bull staff moving to Aston Martin

There has been a huge amount of speculation over Aston Martin’s new AMR22, which was revealed on Friday before the Spanish Grand Prix, and its similarities to the Red Bull. 

The FIA looked into the matter and said that Aston Martin had not broken any rules, but Red Bull kept the pressure on to keep them investigating it. 

Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, claims there was “no coincidence” in the changes, especially after some Red Bull employees left for Aston Martin at the start of 2022. 

Red Bull technical director, Pierre Wache, said to the press:

“For us, the main aspect was to be sure that it was done within the rules,”

“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 has also commented on the similarities and his concern over the employees that moved from Red Bull to Aston Martin, saying:

“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 added:

“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?”