Serious copying allegations in Formula 1

World Championship leader Leclerc from Monaco was 0,079 seconds ahead of his Spanish teammate in Montmelo on Friday. Behind him, Dutch world champion Max Verstappen finished third in a Red Bull. The World Cup runner-up was 0,336 seconds behind Leclerc at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Several teams had come to Spain with upgrades - including Ferrari, which recently lost out to Red Bull twice in the race, and McLaren. The package from Aston Martin was striking: the green cars of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were heavily revised and were sometimes strikingly reminiscent of the current Red Bull.

Sebastian Vettel's racing team is exposed to copying allegations. © APA/afp / MIGUEL MEDINA

The world motorsport association carried out a preliminary investigation on Friday to see whether the English had copied aerodynamic parts from Red Bull. According to a statement, the FIA came to the conclusion that Aston Martin had not violated any rules. However, the matter may not be over yet. Red Bull attacks Aston Martin “We will investigate the matter in detail,” said Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko on Sky. “We now have to clarify how this incredible copy came about.” The Styrian admitted that copying was not fundamentally forbidden, but also noted: “There is evidence that data was downloaded.” Aston Martin's team boss Mike Krack let it go the accusations in the paddock are cold.

The spicy thing about the case: Aston Martin poached several employees from Red Bull last year, including the important chief aerodynamicist Dan Fallows. According to Marko, the Brit switched sides for a “disproportionate fee”. “The sums of money being used here are incomprehensible,” said Marko and made clear accusations against Aston Martin. A total of seven important engineers moved from Red Bull to Aston Martin.

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Serious copying allegations in Formula 1

Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz dominated the first Formula 1 training session before the Spanish Grand Prix. However, there are allegations of copying against Aston Martin.

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