Aston Martin defends itself and says it made car "before anyone from Red Bull came along

Aston Martin has defended itself against accusations that its redesigned AMR22, which arrived in Barcelona with a design very similar to Red Bull's RB18, was conceived from a possible theft of data from the Austrian team. Technical director Andy Green assured that the British never received any information of this type for the development of this year's model, not hiding his disappointment with the taurine rival's posture even after the FIA (International Automobile Federation) attested the legality of the car.

When asked about Red Bull's statements, Green said he didn't know what they were about: "I don't know what these accusations are that Red Bull is talking about. All I can say is that at no time have we received data from any team or anyone," he stressed.

On Thursday, all eyes were on the Aston Martin pits for the AMR22 updates. The sidepods, the halo, the rear wing and the floor were redesigned and became very similar to the Taurus car.

The FIA was quick to speak out, stating that it had conducted an investigation based on Article 17.3 of the Technical Regulations to see if it was facing a case of "reverse engineering and potential transfer of intellectual property."

"Both teams fully cooperated with the FIA in this investigation and provided all relevant information. The investigation, which involved CAD [computer aided design] checks and a detailed analysis of the development process adopted by Aston Martin, confirmed that no infringement had been committed, and therefore the FIA considered Aston Martin's aerodynamic package to be compatible," the body concluded.

"The FIA came and did a full investigation, examined all the data leading up to the history of this car, interviewed all the people involved and concluded that it was a completely independent development," Green reiterated.

The main issue amid the controversy revolves around seven former Red Bull employees who were hired by Aston Martin, among them Dan Fallows, who was the Austrian team's head of engineering and now serves as the British team's technical director. Green, however, insisted that all development of the car began in the middle of last year, without being able to have knowledge of the path Red Bull was following for 2022.

"Regarding potential employees, this car was designed in the middle of last year simultaneously with the model released before the preseason, and most of the releases were done before anyone from Red Bull came along. So I think the accusations are very far from reality," Green continued.

From the beginning, according to the technical director, Aston Martin always had two concept routes in mind, and he admitted surprise to see that Red Bull had made the same reading of the new regulations. "If you look at the development of the car, you will see that it all happened at the end of last year, before we saw anyone."

"We were in a dual direction. And it was a shock, but also a surprise, to see that Red Bull had launched a similar concept. But I think that just reinforced our feeling at the time that of the alternatives we had, we chose the wrong one. And I think that was confirmation," he added.

Finally, Green made the point that he is disappointed with the stance of Red Bull, which has already promised to carry out a more thorough investigation into the case.

"[I am] disappointed, especially with the fact that the FIA made an official statement about the car. They came and analyzed it, then declared that everything was an independent and legitimate work. They are the ones who see all the data. They are the only ones, and not just with us, but with all the teams, who can make this judgment and are required to do so by the regulations. For me, that's the end of it," he closed.