(Motorsport-Total.com) – Many observers were amazed at the first Formula 1 test in Barcelona last week. After Racing Point had only shown a repainted RP19 at its official launch a few days earlier, the new RP20 was presented in Spain for the first time. And it is strikingly reminiscent of the world champion Mercedes from last year.
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A repainted Mercedes W10? No, that’s the new Racing Point RP20! zoom
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“We were very good with our synergy. The Racing Point has now shown us how far you can go,” explains Red Bull Motorsport consultant Helmut Marko to ‘auto motor und sport’ regarding the Mercedes W10 copy. At Red Bull, it’s no secret that there is close cooperation with our own young team AlphaTauri. The situation is similar with Haas and Ferrari.
This is allowed by regulations. The Formula 1 teams generally have to build their cars themselves. However, many parts can also be purchased. For AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost, this is not a problem as long as “everything happens within the rules”. “There were no changes to the rules, so teams copy other teams. This is nothing new in Formula 1,” he shrugs.
“When a team introduces something new, it has an advantage for three or four races. Then the others catch up because they copy it,” explains Tost. However, it is not enough to simply take photos of another car and then recreate it. “The key is that you also understand the philosophy,” said the Austrian.
Steiner: Everything except a Mercedes copy would be “pretty stupid”
“Just because you design the front wing and nose in a similar way does not mean that the entire aerodynamics work like that of another team. You really have to understand how the underbody, the bargeboards and the diffuser work,” explains Tost. Racing Point apparently succeeded. “It looks like a very fast car,” he sums up after the first week of testing.
Racing Point, the “pink red arrow”
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Haas team boss Günther Steiner also has no problem with the approach chosen by Racing Point. “The rules are pretty clear,” he says, explaining: “They use a lot of Mercedes parts on their car. Why should they be there? [beim Rest] copy a red bull? It’s the same with us. We buy many parts from Ferrari. Then which car should we copy? Probably a Ferrari, “everything else is” pretty stupid “.
With regard to the regulations, it is crucial that Racing Point built the corresponding parts themselves. Because in theory it is allowed to copy another car one to one – as long as it only happens with your own photos and sketches. It would be illegal to pass specific data on from one team to another. At Racing Point it is emphasized that this did not happen either.
Purchasing parts generally positive or negative?
“Everyone has the opportunity to do exactly what we did,” said Racing Point chief technical officer Andrew Green. And Red Bull team boss Christian Horner adds: “I think that such collaborations make sense.” In his opinion, smaller teams, such as AlphaTauri in addition to Racing Point, couldn’t afford to build the entire car themselves.
Photo gallery: Formula 1 technology 2020: The updates during the test in Barcelona
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On this close-up you can see the small metal struts that give the front wing stability and ensure that the individual flaps are at the correct distance from each other.
photo gallery
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“Of course it looks like some teams went a bit further with ‘cloning’ than others. But as long as it happens within the rules, I have no problem with it,” Horner explains, explaining that it was even for the show is good because it gives it more competitive cars. “Of course you don’t want ten cars that all look the same,” says Horner.
Basically, a (legal) transfer makes sense for certain parts. McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl is a little more critical, who is primarily concerned with the future of Formula 1. “It is part of Formula 1 DNA that there are certain parts that you as a manufacturer have to build yourself,” he recalls. Therefore, it is the wrong way to allow the teams to buy too many parts.
Seidl: Monitoring is particularly important from 2021
“The rules are clear. It is only important that these rules are followed and monitored,” he warns, explaining that this is particularly important from the 2021 season. “When the budget limit comes, we have to make sure that it really is a limit that is the same for everyone,” said Seidl, who fears that the budget limit could be handled with certain collaborations.
Photo gallery: The new Formula 1 car 2021
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Formula 1 has adopted the new regulations for 2021. Click through the pictures and find out what will change.
photo gallery
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Background: Because the budget will be limited starting in 2021, Team A could put a lot of money into one area of development, while Team B would focus on another area. By working closely together, both would ultimately have an advantage. Therefore, according to Seidl, it is particularly important from 2021 that no data is transferred between individual teams.
“It is important to me that this is properly monitored from 2021 onwards,” he says. For McLaren, this is not the right way anyway, as pilot Lando Norris emphasizes. “We should invent things ourselves and develop our own ideas. That is what McLaren can do. We focus on ourselves and not on others. That is not the way we should do it,” said Norris.
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