Aston Martin has "no concern" of 'Pink Mercedes' controversy repeat

Aston Martin

Aston Martin has "no concern" of 'Pink Mercedes' controversy repeat

The Silverstone-based team was fined and docked 15 points for illegal brake duct design last season

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Wednesday 3 March 2021 16:30 Updated: 16:40

Aston Martin technical director Andrew Green has insisted there is no concern of a repeat of last year's 'Pink Mercedes' saga that resulted in the team being docked 15 constructors' championship points.

Then known as Racing Point, the Silverstone-based outfit was also fined after it was found to have used brake ducts with designs obtained from Mercedes.

With a new rear-end configuration applied to the first car of Aston Martin's return to F1 - the AMR 21 that was launched on Wednesday - which is allowed within the regulations to help customers to compete with an updated 2020 package, Green is confident any indiscretions will remain as history.

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"It was a difficult period last year, I think we have put that behind us now," said Green, in a select media session that included GPFans Global.

"The rules are very clear on how we can upgrade and how we can operate. We have backed those rules and we are happy with the regulations as they are written.

"We have no concerns at all about the way we have developed the car over the winter so we have no issues."

The new rear-end configuration will house an updated gearbox in conjunction with the enforced aerodynamic changes aimed at reducing downforce levels of the current F1 machinery.

Despite the influx of Mercedes material, Green is adamant that the new specification for 2021 is completely Aston Martin's concept, aiming to build upon the lessons taken from last season's change of direction.

"Well obviously, we have no idea what Mercedes has done or has been doing," Green responded when asked if the team had taken inspiration from the world champion's operations last season.

"The concept on the car is 100% an Aston Martin and the initial direction, which was set almost two years ago, seems a long way behind us.

"We have learned an incredible amount since then. It was a challenge for the group but I think along the way, we have done a lot of really good work but last year we made a few mistakes as well.

"We have definitely learned from those mistakes and we have looked to correct them for the '21 car, which gives us a lot of optimism for the performance of our car going forward.

"All in all, [we are] happy with the decision we made two years ago and we are still building on it. I think there is a lot of performance left in the '21 car, the challenge is to extract it in the time we have available, which is quite limited."