The Red Bull Racing RB18 and the Aston Martin AMR22B are incredibly similar, leading many people to believe that Aston Martin copied Red Bull. Technical director Andrew Green says he is not shocked, but surprised that Red Bull came up with the same concept.
The Red Bull Racing RB18 and the Aston Martin AMR22B are incredibly similar, leading many people to believe that Aston Martin copied Red Bull. Technical director Andrew Green says he is not shocked, but surprised that Red Bull came up with the same concept.
Aston Martin sat on two concepts during the preseason when it came to the new 2022 car. Green made it clear, according to The Race website, that the AMR22 B-spec cannot be a copy, as the first designs for this car were already on the drawing board in mid-2021.
However, the British team chose to start the season with a completely different design, a design that turned out not to be fast enough. "Before we saw anyone, we were on a double track. And it was not a shock, but a surprise that Red Bull also launched a similar concept," reveals Green.
According to him, the team ended up going the wrong way and he says that the RB18 was confirmation of that. In the first five races, Aston Martin tried to optimize the first car, but according to Green, this was a "dead end.
Furthermore, the first car's tuning options were very limited. Because of the similarities with the RB18, the FIA even evaluated, but gave the green light to the new car after analyzing all the data.
"They (FIA) interviewed all the people involved and concluded that it was a completely independent development," reveals Green. According to him, Aston Martin has always been open and honest about the second car the team was preparing.