Sergio Perez, Racing Point, Red Bull Ring, 2020

Perez: Racing Point mustn’t “get too excited” after second-fastest team time

2020 Austrian Grand Prix

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Sergio Perez says Racing Point need to keep their expectations in check after a strong start to the first day of practice for the 2020 F1 season.

Racing Point ended the day second-fastest out of the 10 teams. Perez’s lap time 1’04.945 put him third overall behind the two Mercedes drivers but ahead of the rest of the field, including both the Red Bulls and Ferraris.

Following their impressive showing in pre-season testing, it gave a further indication of the progress the team has made since last year.

“We have to take it step by step,” cautioned Perez. “But I think we certainly have closed the gap to the top teams.

“I think where last year we started really on the back foot, I think right now we are ready to start and ready to fight and I’m proud to be here.”

However he pointed out Mercedes are still comfortably ahead of Racing Point, and several of their rivals are much closer behind.

“We were a good half a second away,” said Perez. “And on such a small track the Ferraris, the Red Bulls, the Renaults, the McLarens are all within a tenth of us.

“So it’s not like we can get too excited. The margins are extremely close. Hopefully tomorrow we can put a great lap together in quali.”

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10 comments on “Perez: Racing Point mustn’t “get too excited” after second-fastest team time”

  1. What are the rules around the (presumed) cameras at the side of the air intake?
    – can you cover them as you like (as RP does)?
    – why does Perez have 2 and Stroll only 1?

    1. @coldfly Might just be sensors for practice only? Seen that suggested somewhere. If they don’t run it in a meaningful session then no problem.

    2. Perez run the temperature camera that why he has 2.

      1. Thank you @tflb & @macleod.

    3. Jesper Andersson
      3rd July 2020, 21:45

      They only have them on FP1 and FP2, for collecting data.. tyre temperatures etc.
      But why Perez had 2 and Stroll only 1 I don’t know..

    4. Perez demands finer observations of his tyres because of his deft feel for tyre wear. He needs to know precisely the response of each tyre. Stroll on the other hand, doesn’t operate with such fine margins, so he is fine only knowing the temperature distribution of the tyres on the hotter side of the car.

  2. Surprise, Mercedes copy car is fast as hell.

  3. petebaldwin (@)
    4th July 2020, 0:49

    It is surprising to see that Mercedes 2019 car is faster than everyone else’s 2020 car – pretty embarrassing for the rest of the field. We all knew Mercedes would easily cruise to another title this year but I hoped some of the others would at least be on pace with their old car. Sadly not.

    1. @petebaldwin Technically, it isn’t the W10 – it merely looks like it to some extent from the outside.

  4. RocketTankski
    4th July 2020, 10:54

    I think perhaps Williams have also been copying parts of a Mercedes design. The Sprinter van.

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