A number of teams have launched their challengers in front of the media this week, including Aston Martin, who have perhaps faced the greatest backlash following their release on Monday.
Most teams, especially in the midfield, tend to take some cues from the frontrunners in terms of their car designs.
Aston Martin, though, seems to have gone overboard in its artistic freedom, copying Red Bull’s car from 2022 to a big degree.
While this could go unnoticed in the case of other teams, the fact that Aston Martin’s technical chief Dan Fallows is the former aerodynamics head at Red Bull has led to some controversy.
Aston Martin has blatantly adopted Red Bull’s sidepod design, while the underfloor is not that visible from the launch photos.
As far as the airflow is concerned, it seems to have taken a leaf out of Alpine’s playbook, with a deep gulley running along the top of its sidepod.
This allows any excess airflow that cannot be dealt by the car’s radiators to go through.
In fairness, the rest of the car looks rather complex.
The pullrod/pushrod system at the front and back of the car allows the car’s rear to get lower to the ground, thereby facilitating easier rotation.
Even the wishbone layout is complex compared to some other teams, with a multi-link system appearing to be in place rather than just a simple top and bottom wishbone.
Naturally, teams will be hesitant to show their new challengers completely, especially with pre-season testing set to begin in Bahrain in a couple of weeks.