Racing Point’s RP20 became an immediate focus of attention when it took to the track.
[smr2020test]The team had promised to reveal a car which was clearly a departure from last year’s machine. It undoubtedly is, though it bears a strong resemblance to another 2019 car – Mercedes’ W10.
It was also quick out of the box. In fact, within the first two hours of the test beginning, Sergio Perez had already beaten the best time the team managed in the whole of last year’s eight-day pre-season test.
Remarkably, they managed this despite not even holding a shakedown test for the car, which the team were still working on late last night before its debut.
“As well as today being the first day of testing, it effectively acted as the shakedown of the RP20,” said performance engineering director Tom McCullough. “We were up late last night preparing the car but we managed to take to the track for our first installation laps more or less on time.”
As will be the case for most cars on the first day of running, the team hasn’t begun digging into the full extent of their car’s capabilities. “Today we focussed on completing systems checks and putting mileage on the car,” McCullough explained. “Later on we also began the aero mapping. The feedback from Checo and Lance [Stroll] has been positive and there were no significant dramas during the day.”
They went faster than they managed during last year’s Spanish Grand Prix weekend, though they haven’t quite beaten their 2019 pre-season testing benchmark. It’s surely only a matter of time, though.
That will surely go for all of the teams. However Williams is the only team likely to cover more mileage than it managed last year. While testing has been cut from eight days to six last year, Williams only did six days’ running last year anyway.
[f1tv2020testc]
2020 pre-season lap times compared to last year
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2020 pre-season mileages compared to last year
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2020 F1 season
- Pictures: Wrecked chassis from Grosjean’s Bahrain fireball crash to go on display
- Bottas vs Rosberg: Hamilton’s Mercedes team mates compared after 78 races each
- F1 revenues fell by $877 million in Covid-struck 2020 season
- Hamilton and Mercedes finally announce new deal for 2021 season
- F1 audience figures “strong” in 2020 despite dip in television viewers
Phylyp (@phylyp)
19th February 2020, 22:05
Wow, Williams really were planning ahead for 2020!
Seriously though, I’m glad to see them doing well. They were at a point where there wasn’t any pleasure to be had cracking jokes at their expense. To see Russell beat his 2019 qualy time on their first day of testing is a really good sign. Yeah, the goalposts might have moved and other teams improved, but even if Williams remain last, hopefully their pace won’t be as dire as last year.
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
19th February 2020, 22:21
Yeah, @phylyp… hopefully Williams can be last place – with a bullet.
Cristiano Ferreira
20th February 2020, 1:57
It remains to be seem if Force India are indeed a force (no pun intended) to be reckoned with because we don’t know what kind of program they were running compared to their midfield rivals. I don’t want to go about conspiracy theories just yet but i think Mercedes could have handed the blueprints of the W10 to Racing Point (even if its forbidden by the rules) just to try and disrupt Red Bull and Ferrari.
I mean, its kinda of interesting to Mercedes to add one (two) more car (team) in the mix just to make it a nuisance to their rivals, hoping that it will make them waste more resources in developing their cars while they concentrate solely in 2021.
We don’t know how much Mercedes fears that convergence may break their winning streak, but if they do fear that much, then that Racing Point car is the answer.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
20th February 2020, 7:15
The team hasn’t been Force India for over a year.
MacLeod (@macleod)
20th February 2020, 8:17
racing point is a silly name so for me it’s stil Force india
frood19 (@frood19)
20th February 2020, 10:46
Force India is a pretty silly name too. let’s just call them Jordan and be done with it.