New F1 controversy: “It’s not allowed in any other sport”

One of the big surprises of the F1 preseason in testing Bahrain is the performance of the new car Visa Cash App RB (formerly AlphaTauri or Toro Rosso), the ‘B’ team car owned by red bulll. A car that has generated controversy, since its unveiling many have highlighted that it is a replica or a car very similar to last year’s champion Red Bull, the one from his ‘eldest brother’. And RB’s subsequent performance in the tests reignited the flames of controversy in the always difficult debate about ‘B’ teams in F1, led for some time by Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, is strongly opposed to having one group own two teams.

At the end of last season, the so-called AlphaTauri’s leap was great enough to reach Aston Martin’s level in the race, below the group chasing Red Bull. And in this preseason, Simulation data from Formula 1 specialists indicate that RB can be placed between Mercedes and Aston Martin in classification, as the 5th best teamand just behind the green car at race pace, with options to continue progressing in that front group, led by Red Bull ahead of Ferrari.

But it’s no longer about whether or not the car is the same as last year’s Red Bull. In fact, in recent years there have been similar cases of controversy such as the famous ‘Pink Mercedes’ of 2020, a Racing Point very similar to last year’s champion Mercedes. On that occasion the team was accused of plagiarism and ended up being sanctioned by the FIA ​​​​because it was found that the design of the brake ducts violated the regulations because it was determined that “the main designer” of those ducts was Mercedes.

It should be noted that F1 teams are allowed to copy the design of a car through observation and photography., through so-called ‘reverse engineering’. But the transfer of car designs and plans between teams is completely prohibited because there are a series of parts marked by the regulations as ‘Listed Parts’, which the teams are obliged to design themselves.

Zak Brown called for a change in regulations

In this case, Zak Brown doesn’t consider RB cheating. But the regulations must be changed to prevent a close relationship such as is believed to exist between Red Bull and the Faenza team, where information can be passed more easily from one side to the other.

“I don’t think they’re cheating, but the rules aren’t fit for purpose. There’s no other major sport that I know of where you can have two competing teams. It’s not allowed in any other sport, because of the political influence , and player trading. It’s for every reason you can think of.”The American disputed the statements reported by ‘Motorsport’.

Regarding the designs, Brown believes that it is not necessary to carry the plans from one team to another, but instead by transferring his employees from one team to another, valuable knowledge is shared .

For Brown, the issue of the ‘B’ teams is about more than just building a car. He believes they can influence the competition and in the case of Red Bull, Verstappen could have not only ‘Checo’ as an assistant, but also the two RB drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, to play in his favour.

“Imagine a Max (Verstappen) against Oscar (Piastri) and Oscar classifies tenth, while Max takes pole. The best strategy is to start with the medium tire, but the RBs classify ninth and eleventh, so let’s put them both on soft and let’s engage with others,” he argued, making it clear that in that situation the two RBs would appear to be better for using soft rubber and would act as a stopper at the start of the race for Piastri so that he would lose valuable time to avoid a comeback.

Of course, he forgot that in other categories more remarkable things happen, as in the case of MotoGP, where there are 3 Ducati satellite teams, and even if they are not owned by Italians, some of they have the same motorcycle as the factory set, something that causes there to be an accumulation of Italian machines at the front of the grid that harms the results of the other companies.

But Brown went further. He also believes that Red Bull may have an ally in terms of investigations, as it has in the past Singapore GP, when AlphaTauri did not appear for investigation when Max Verstappen interfered with Tsunoda in qualifying, something that could lead to a penalty for the Dutchman. Or politically, since it has two more votes in the F1 Commission, which leaves it in a privileged position: it only needs to have one other team on its side on any issue to avoid an immediate reform of the regulations that could conflict at Red Bull.

For all these reasons, Zak Brown continues to insist (and will continue to do so), raising his voice to ban the same ownership of two teams on the grid. He already said this in 2022: “F1 should be ten real constructors”

Horner responded forcefully

Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull, is critical of Zak Brown’s complaints and rumors from the paddock about a possible good relationship between the two teams of the same ownership.

“The thing comes from the fact that Mosley talked to Helmut Marko and Mateschitz because Minardi went bankrupt. Red Bull was there. In 2008 many brands came out and it continued there in bad times where others left. Then came Covid and, again, he took hold of both teams. And we were the key to progress. RB’s efforts should be applauded rather than criticized.”commented Horner, recalling that they saved an F1 team from bankruptcy, recovered it and have maintained it to this day as the basis for promoting their young F1 talents.

“The relationship between our teams is even lower than what has been for many years between the teams with Maranello”He added, in clear reference to Ferrari’s client teams, such as Haas, who not only buy the engine, gearbox and rear suspension, but also buy other parts of last year’s car that can be bought by regulation. And in addition, there are many factories that use their engine client teams as a platform to upload their young drivers to forge themselves in F1.

“I don’t understand the noise created about it and I think RB should be supported by effort in good and especially in bad times,” he concluded.