Jibes mask Aston Martin's focus on future gains

LONDON : Red Bull made some jibes about Aston Martin's new Formula One car looking like a copy of their old one after Fernando Alonso raced to a podium finish in Bahrain on Sunday, but rivals should perhaps be more concerned about what remained unseen.

Champions Red Bull won the opener one-two with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez while Spaniard Alonso finished third, far behind on track but an impressive leap on last year for the Silverstone-based team.

The team, seventh overall in 2022 and owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, are ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari in second place after one race.

"It's flattering to see the resemblance of that car to ours," commented Red Bull boss Christian Horner. "They say imitation is the biggest form of flattery and it’s good to see the old car going so well."

Mexican Perez told reporters it was "nice to see three Red Bull cars on the podium" and added "we are all Red Bull drivers".

Dismissing the AMR23 as a "Green Red Bull", is too easy, however - and not just because there are a Mercedes engine and gearbox in the back and time spent in the Mercedes wind tunnel.

Some of the comments reflect Aston Martin luring top talent away from Red Bull, with Dan Fallows joining as technical director last year.

They also pick at old sores - the team's 2020 car, then a Racing Point, was dubbed the 'Pink Mercedes' for its similarity to the previous year's championship-winning car driven by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

Red Bull's motorsport head Helmut Marko told Servus TV on Sunday he saw three Red Bulls on the Bahrain podium and "what Fallows had in his head cannot be erased".

Fallows gave his own take at the launch of the AMR23 in February, suggesting the more significant elements of his