Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes! Apparently, no one expected Aston Martin to step into the three-way battle for the 2023 F1 world championship. Last year the green team could only achieve 50 points in the constructor’s championship. Team leader Sebastian Vettel, the legend, was at P12 and Lance Stroll at P15 in the driver’s standings. It was the last year of Vettel’s career, and perhaps his good farewell wishes to the team got accepted.
However, in the 2023 season-opening, the Aston Martin driver, Fernando Alonso, got the third podium, while Lance Stroll managed to remain under the top six list, just after the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. What a comeback! But how did the British team take such a huge step forward within a year? The one-word answer is, ‘Dan Fallows.’
Dan Fallows is Aston Martin’s technical director, who joined the team in 2022 after resigning from Red Bull. And Red Bull’s chief advisor, Helmut Marko, now believes that the concept applied to the AMR23 is almost the same as RB19. Apparently, when Dallon joined the Astons, Red Bull’s concepts joined it too.
Aston Martin Indeed Copied Red Bull, Each Word Of Helmut Marko Indicates It
Speaking with Sky Sports Germany, Helmut Marko commented on the British team’s car being similar to Red Bull’s. When he compared the cars, he found one reason that made the Aston martin perform fantastically, just like Red Bull. And that is one reason he claims to be “Dan Fallows, who went to the team but also a few other people went along. And [no doubt] they have a good memory”.
It is good to become a great team suddenly after giving a mediocre performance last season. But it must bring doubts on you when you might have copied others. Helmut Marko directly indicated that Aston Martin had copied Red Bull’s style via the memory of Dallon and others who switched their company. It is kind of impossible to think that Red Bull’s idea was not followed in Fernando Alonso’s team.
Meanwhile, boss Christian Horner does not find it impossible for Aston Martin to bridge the gap to third on the podium. He believes that the hard work the team did during the winter break is paving the way for their success. Horner said, “It is said that imitation is the biggest form of flattery, and it is good to see the old car going so well.”
Red Bull might have lost Dan Fallows to Aston Martin, who must have breached Red bull’s unique concept to them. But by no means is Red Bull insecure. Horner denied accepting that they regret losing Dan. Instead, he claimed that the Austrian team still has a wonderful team and everything here has to evolve, go through processes. “nothing stands still” and so the rivals may turn their positions from back to the podiums but Red Bull will never stop winning, giving their best.