As part of a revamp that Horner has helped provide input to, a relaunched and renamed AlphaTauri team in 2024 will forge closer ties with its sister team – and take more Red Bull parts than it has done recently.
But the new closer alliance has raised eyebrows in the paddock amid concerns that the collaboration will deliver both teams an advantage – as they can share development ideas and shortcut solutions.
Rival teams have already voiced private worries about the matter and urged the FIA to take a very close look at what is happening to ensure that nothing unfair is going on.
But Horner has insisted nothing untoward is taking place, and the relationship between Red Bull and AlphaTauri will be nothing like that between Mercedes and Racing Point which produced the infamous 'Pink Mercedes' controversy in 2020.
Back then, Racing Point, which was using the Mercedes wind tunnel, produced an RP20 that bore a striking resemblance to the 2019 Mercedes car.
Rival teams eventually protested the design, and Racing Point was found guilty of breaching IP rules with its rear brake ducts, being fined 400,000 euro and losing 15 constructors' championship points.
Source: Autosport