THERE’S NO STOPPING THE BULL RUN
BUT IF THE
CARS DON’T ALL LOOK THE SAME, MORE RED BULL THRASHINGS FEEL LIKE AN INEVITABILITY
It’s now plain to see there are only two ways to be successful in this ground-effect era of Formula 1. The first option is to build a Red Bull. Failing that, build a car that looks like a Red Bull.
There have been plenty of jibes about Aston Martin having merely reached for a piece of tracing paper when designing the AMR23. But this shouldn’t be treated as a taboo subject because the technical team has publicly admitted, in effect, to doing this. It accepted the need to swallow its pride last year and has taken heavy inspiration from the RB18 of 2022. Why wouldn’t it replicate a car which won 17 grands prix and both titles? Frankly, to attempt to catch Adrian Newey – who is continually refining a standardsetting creation anyway – by chasing diminishing returns and developing a fundamentally inferior car concept is to waste time and restricted money.
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says Aston should be investigated for what he thinks is outright plagiarism of the downwash sidepod setup. But, as part of a bigger picture for F1, the green team shouldn’t be painted as the bad guy. It has been downright pragmatic by copying the homework of the best in class. Besides, without such an approach, as large chunks of the Bahrain Grand Prix proved, an inescapably dull period of Max Verstappen-led domination would be inevitable.
It was Fernando Alonso’s overtaking to secure a podium that made the first GP of the season entertaining late on.
And it’s thanks to his result that eight other teams have been given a rude awakening. If the outcome of 2022 wasn’t enough,
Alonso’s turn of pace was all the evidence required for them to bin their current philosophies and converge around the Red Bull design if they are serious about being competitive.
Mercedes has cottoned on to this already. Toto Wolff concedes he has now lost faith in the W14 and those distinctive size-zero sidepods. Since the Aston shares the Merc’s powertrain, gearbox and rear suspension and was even shaped in the same windtunnel, there’s no prizes for guessing it’s the aero which needs radically revising. Ferrari, however, appears much more stubborn. New team principal Fréd Vasseur insists it’s merely setup tweaks preventing the SF-23 from becoming a regular race-winning force. He believes the Scuderia can end its title drought by ploughing its own furrow. Even with lingering unreliability and strategy errors set to one side, the data suggests he shouldn’t be so sure...
If all the teams are to do the sensible thing and consolidate around a Red Bull layout, the casualty will be the pleasing design differentiation the new regulations permitted. Liveries notwithstanding, no longer will the Mercedes be instantly recognisable for resembling a cuttlefish. Nor will the Ferrari stand out for looking as though two Victoria Plum baths have made their way into the scarlet sidepods. But if the cars don’t all look the same, more Red Bull thrashings feel like an inevitability.
There are, of course, other factors in Aston being on course to launch from seventh in the standings (per 2022) to a possible third, or even higher. It has been on an expensive shopping spree, building a new state-of-the-art factory and poaching top talent from further up the constructors’ championship. But its rate of progress over just one winter nevertheless goes to show that waiting a decade or more for the cost cap to cancel out the advantage of the leading teams is a nonsense. Convergence is the way to create a more competitive F1, and that was half the reason the new regulations were conceived in the first place.