Red Bull praised by F1 rival in 'shameless' copycat confession

Red Bull has done an "amazing job" to develop a competitive power unit within four years, Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen has said.

The Milton Keynes-based squad is about to embark on its first season in F1 as a works entry, having produced power units for its main team and sister outfit Racing Bulls in partnership with Ford.

That technical collaboration has brought the American car giant back to the championship just over two decades after it sold the Jaguar F1 team to the energy drinks company.

Alpine, on the other hand, is heading into its first campaign as a customer team, having forgone its works status in favour of a supply of power units and gearboxes from Mercedes.

Through the changing faces on both teams. Nielsen was quick give credit where he feels it is due, after the six-time constructors' champions impressed during F1 pre-season testing.

Speaking to media, including RacingNews365, the Briton said: "Red Bull have done an amazing job, honestly. 

"Four years ago, that PU manufacturer was a hole in the ground in Milton Keynes, and here they are today.

"It's an amazing job, obviously — they've done very, very well, and it's a credit to everybody involved in it.

"Our job is to do better than that and try to beat them."

'Shameless' admission

Heading into testing, Mercedes was the clear favourite, in part due to the compression ratio trick pulled off for itself and its three customers — Alpine, McLaren and Williams.

Whilst Ferrari is now thought to be neck-and-neck with the Brackley-based squad on account of the advantages derived from its smaller turbo, Red Bull caught the competition off-guard during the first week of running at the Bahrain International Circuit.

In particular, its energy management strategies and superior deployment — especially at the hands of Max Verstappen — garnered attention, so when Nielsen was asked if Alpine would try to replicate it, he made a copycat admission.

"We're shameless plagiarists, all of us," he said lightheartedly of Team Enstone and the other 10 F1 operations.

"We'll look at anything anybody else can do on the track, off the track, and if we like it, we'll steal it.

"And looking at their speeds, cornering speeds, how they deploy, all of that stuff — we're all doing it to each other."