The links between Red Bull and Aston Martin will not go away, no matter how much Aston Martin continue to reject the copying claims.
The team’s technical director Dan Fallows was signed from Red Bull, where he worked as the team’s head of aerodynamics and a number of other staff members have made the same move.
At last year’s Spanish Grand Prix the Aston Martin was nicknamed the ‘Green Bull’ due to its similar design to the RB18, with the team denying any suggestions that they had copied the design.
Dan Fallows had a hand in creating the dominant RB18 before moving to Aston Martin and after the team scored a podium at the first race of 2023, Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko has hinted that the AMR23 may be inspired by Red Bull’s designs.
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“It looks like they all have a good memory,” said the Austrian when asked about the members of staff who have moved to Aston Martin from Red Bull.
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez brought home a one-two for Red Bull at the Bahrain Grand Prix and the duo were joined on the podium by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, with the green car looking extremely impressive compared to the Mercedes and Ferrari.
This result prompted Perez to make a joke about Aston Martin’s Red Bull influence, with the Mexican clearly on the same wavelength as Helmut Marko.
“It’s nice to see three Red Bull cars on the podium,” joked the Mexican during a post-race interview, much to the amusement of Verstappen and Alonso.
The AMR23 does look very similar to the RB19, with Aston Martin opting to follow Red Bull down the detailed sidepod development pathway rather than having the gulleys of the Ferrari or even adopting the zero sidepod approach of Mercedes.
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While this may seem like copying, it is simply the correct pathway to follow, meaning that Aston Martin have just chosen the smartest development route.
Aston Martin are powered by Mercedes engines but are significantly quicker than the Silver Arrows, proving that their car design is simply better than Toto Wolff’s team.
Having scored a podium at the first race of the season, Aston Martin will look to use this momentum to be battling at the front next time out in Saudi Arabia.