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Christian Horner is adamant there will be no repeat of the ‘pink Mercedes’ controversy when Red Bull forges a closer alliance with its renamed sister team next season.
It was announced earlier this year that AlphaTauri, as it is known at present, would again take more parts from Red Bull, within the confines of the current regulations.
Throughout the weekend of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, though, concerns were aired behind the scenes as to the exact nature of the fusion in 2024 between Red Bull, and a team that is due to be rebranded as Racing Bulls.
For instance, there was the perception at the Yas Marina Circuit that AlphaTauri’s recent raft of new parts were to help Red Bull with its RB20 for next year given the restriction on wind tunnel and CFD time as a result of breaching the budget cap regulations in 2021. That penalty ended in October.
As to how closely the cars from the two teams will resemble one another next year has rekindled memories of 2020 when Racing Point – now Aston Martin – was docked 15 constructors’ championship points and fined €400,000 for breaching IP rules over the car’s rear brake ducts that were similar to the Mercedes of the previous year.
The car also resembled Mercedes’ W10, which resulted in it being dubbed ‘the pink Mercedes’ due to the colour of its livery given its primary sponsorship at the time with BWT.
Dismissing any hint of collaboration, and insisting the two teams would be operating within the rules, Horner said: “We’re an awful long way from a pink Mercedes.
“There are some transferable components which are clearly listed within the regulations you’re allowed to supply, and that’s what they get.
“When you look at the car, there are quite fundamental differences between that car and a Red Bull Racing car. And arguably, there are other cars on the grid that are far closer in concept (to the RB19) than AlphaTauri is.
“You’ve only got to look at an Aston Martin, or even a McLaren. If you look around the rear suspension of a McLaren, it’s very close in concept to that of our own.”
As to whether the gap between the two teams would close next year, Horner stated it would be “down to the quality of people” inside the team, which will be led by former Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies following Franz Tost’s retirement.
He said: “Of course, there are certain components that we can supply, as is the case with Mercedes and Ferrari that supply current grand prix teams with gearboxes, suspensions and simulation tools, and wind tunnel (time).
“That is an identical relationship between the companies, and of course, it is then down to them how they use those tools.”
Unable to resist a subtle dig at bitter rivals Mercedes, Horner added: “You can see that McLaren has used the tools, in certain respects, better than their supplier has done in half of the year.
“It’s really down to them how they make use of what they’re permitted within the regulations.”
