21/05/2022
NEWS STORY
As the IP row gathers pace, Aston Martin technical director, Andy Green adopts the 'here's one we made earlier' approach.
As Red Bull launches its own investigation into the IP row, the FIA having cleared Aston Martin of any wrongdoing, Andy Green insists that the updates unveiled this weekend were in preparation a year ago.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Green says he doesn't know what the current fuss is about as the updates revealed this weekend were "conceived in the middle of last year".
"I don't know what these accusations are that Red Bull are flinging about," he said. "All I can say is at no stage did we ever receive any data from any team, from anyone.
"The FIA came in and did a thorough investigation," he continued, "examined all the data, the history of the car, they interviewed all the people involved and concluded there was completely independent development.
"This car was conceived in the middle of last year as a dual route with the launch car," he insisted, "the majority of the releases were made before anybody, from Red Bull, even turned up. I think the accusations are very wide of the mark.
"If you look at the development of the car that is sitting out there right now you'll see that this all happened towards the end of last year before we'd seen anybody," says Green. "We were on a dual path, and it came as a shock but also a surprise that Red Bull came out with a similar concept as well, but I think that just reinforced our feeling at the time that of the two paths we had open to us we'd gone the wrong way, and I think that was confirmation of that."
So, ignoring the fact that according to Red Bull, it was the FIA that first revealed the similarities the revised Aston Martin bore to its car, Green is saying that a year ago the Silverstone-based outfit was essentially working on its car and a B-car, which bears a striking resemblance to the car to be subsequently unveiled by Red Bull several months later.
"Here's one we prepared earlier," as they used to say on Blue Peter.
Only in F1.