"I think the answer to that is no": Mercedes told not to copy Aston Martin

Craig Scarborough, a respected F1 technical analyst, recently spoke about how Mercedes cannot simply copy Aston Martin's bodywork and concept to improve the W14's performance.

At the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP, millions of F1 fans and enthusiasts were shocked to see Mercedes losing positions to Aston Martin. This was extra fascinating to witness since the latter bought power units from the former.

Speaking on F1 journalist Peter Windsor's YouTube channel, Scarborough explained why Mercedes cannot copy Aston Martin's concept, even though most of the parts and the power unit are the same in both cars.

He said:

"I think the answer to that is no, I don’t think there is. People will point at the sidepods and the gulleys as maybe the secret to that car’s performance, which is really kind of ignoring everything that’s going on underneath the car and the way they’ve got the suspension set up. So no, there isn’t anything anyone else can really copy quickly to find some performance."

He addressed how several people on social media discussed how the Silver Arrows should copy Aston Martin's concept and improve their car, saying:

"In talking about this online, so many people are now saying, 'Well, Mercedes just need to copy Aston Martin, because it’s got the same engine, the same gearbox, the same rear suspension, aspects of the hubs of the brakes are similar - why don’t they make a car that looks like that?’"

Finally, Scarborought concluded:

"With these things, it’s never quite that easy and, equally, I don’t think that’s the way that Mercedes will go about engineering the car. I think Aston Martin have baked in a little advantage, certainly for the first part of this season while everyone else gets themselves sorted out and catches up."

Aston Martin has surprised almost everyone on the F1 grid after Fernando Alonso finished third in the Bahrain GP.

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Toto Wolff positive for Mercedes after seeing Aston Martin's performance

It was somewhat humiliating for the Silver Arrows to see a customer team overtake them in the Bahrain GP. However, Toto Wolff is happy to see Aston Martin's performance simply because it proves that their power unit has potential.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Austrian said:

"We can [come back], absolutely we can. I think it needs to be much more radical in the steps than hope for a three-tenths upgrade. [Aston Martin] deserve what they have done, they did a good job. The good news for us is there is a lot of Mercedes in there. To pinpoint it, that would be helpful in the recovery."

After the first race of the 2023 F1 season, the Brackley-based team will be working hard over the week to improve as much as possible before the Saudi Arabian GP.