‘Can it be copied in such detail?’: Why mighty Red Bull has started to see Aston Martin as a real threat

In the pre-season tests that took place in Sakhir, the AMR23 was the auto reveal. His performance has led to the most powerful teams in the top category of motorsport, Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari having him in their sights.

But it was only last Sunday, when the Bahrain Grand Prix was held with its driver Fernando Alonso as the main protagonist, that he presented himself as a real threat.

The Spaniard, who started fifth, ran an excellent race managing tire wear and overtaking his compatriot Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). Alonso finished third behind Verstappen (1st) and Checo Pérez (2nd).

As if that weren’t enough, the teams gradually begin to become enemies. It was the adviser of Red Bull, Helmut Marko, who threw an arrow at Dan Follows, current director of Aston Martin and with a past in the Austrian team. “What Follows had in mind cannot be undone. Copying the concept is not prohibitedButIt can be copied in such detail without having our car documentation?

Milton Keynes, for their part, prefer to turn a deaf ear to these comments and focus on themselves. “We went the other way in car design, while Red Bull or Ferrari followed the same, honing and improving. For our part, we still have a lot of room for improvement, the project is new and we are sure to find many benefits in the coming months,” said Fernando, who at 41 seems to be more motivated than ever this season.