Christian Horner has taken a dig at Aston Martin over their latest updates, which he has labelled as being a "clone" of Red Bull's car. The AMR22 is carrying a range of modifications as part of a major upgrade package for the Spanish Grand Prix, and certain elements of this - in particular the sidepods and engine cover - have drawn comparisons to the RB18. During a routine pre-event check on the updates, the FIA launched an investigation after becoming aware of features that "resembled those of another competitor". This confirmed that no wrongdoing had been committed by Aston Martin.
Horner reacts to Aston Martin/Red Bull comparisons
Speaking before the investigation outcome was announced, Red Bull boss Horner made his feelings clear about the comparisons between the two cars. "It is quite a thing to instruct your team to come up with a very close-looking clone of our car," Horner said in BBC 5 Live Sport 's Spanish Grand Prix preview podcast, as quoted by Andrew Benson on Twitter. "A few people have moved over the winter period, and what you can't control is what they take in their heads. "But what would be of grave concern to us would be if any IP had in any way changed hands. "That is where we rely on the FIA to do their job. They have all the access and we will be relying on them heavily to ensure that no Red Bull IP has found its way into that car."
Aston Martin reiterate no wrongdoing on their behalf
Aston Martin have reiterated that their work has been confirmed to be in line with the technical regulations. "We have shared details of our update with the FIA technical people," the team said. "Having analysed the data and processes used, the FIA has confirmed in writing that our update was generated as a result of legitimate independent work in accordance with technical regulations."
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