Mercedes confirm Red Bull investigation after Monaco GP incident

Mercedes have confirmed they will hold an investigation to steal Red Bull secrets after a gift at the Monaco Grand Prix. Team photographers have snapped rare details on the bottom of the RB19 with Silver Arrows aerodynamicists set to go over the information this week.

Sergio Perez crashed out in Q1 after colliding with the wall on the outside of the Ste Devote corner. However, the tight nature of the Monaco circuit means the machine was lifted into the air on a crane in order to get it back to the pits.

This allowed the team’s rivals to look at the team’s floor design which is rarely seen at race weekends. Technical director James Allison confirmed the German marque had received a “nice clutch” of Red Bull images from photographers on the outside of the corner.

Allison explained: “Well, certainly it always attracts a lot of interest. There’s a lot of scurrying around with team cameramen, not just to rely on the TV pictures which are low resolution and not good enough grade.

“Photographers are positioned at strategic parts of the track where there’s a likelihood that the cranes will be brought into play, and they’re there clicking away furiously and then our inbox is subsequently filled with the high-res images of other cars.

“Sadly, our own car had its trip into the heavens this weekend. There’ll be plenty of photos in our competitors’ inboxes from that, but yes, we got a nice clutch of Red Bull imagery, and that’s always a good thing for our aerodynamicists to pore over and see if we can pick out details that will be of interest to us in our ongoing test programme.”

However, Mercedes’ rivals could also benefit after Lewis Hamilton suffered a similar fate on Saturday morning. The seven-time champion’s car was airlifted at Mirabeau after Hamilton locked up his tyres and ran into the wall in FP3.

Former world champion Jenson Button questioned why race officials had lifted Hamilton’s car when the session had been stopped. Hamilton’s former team-mate was also shocked that cameras had picked up details on the team’s diffuser.

It came at the worst possible race for the German team who introduced new upgrades after weeks of work. Mercedes reserve driver Anthony Davidson claimed the constructor would be left horrified by the stewards’ decision.

He commented: “Actually in all seriousness the team will be hating this because it allows people. Like you were just trying to look at the underside of the car Jenson. It’s such a valuable thing for other teams to be having a nosey at. They’d love to be looking at the underside of the Red Bull for sure and the Aston Martin.”