3
Racing Point team principal Otmar Szafnauer says that his team will unveil a "quite different" car for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
During pre-season testing, the team confirmed that it would be bringing a significant upgrade to Melbourne.
At Barcelona, it didn't rack up strong mileage due to a lack of parts. But as it prepares for its first year under its new identity, it is aiming to start the year strongly with a heavily upgraded car this weekend.
"Winter testing saw us achieve our main objectives and we took away a lot of positives, but the car you will see in Melbourne is quite different from the car we ran in Barcelona," commented Szafnauer.
“We took the strategic decision to give ourselves the maximum time to develop the car, to maximise our performance at the first race, and that meant holding back a little during testing.
"It’s not easy introducing new parts late in the day and we know it will be a steep learning curve, but we believe this approach will pay off in the long run.”
Szafanuer is expecting another close battle between the midfield teams, as he labels Racing Point's upcoming season as a "transition" year.
"A big part of the RP19 was designed before the new shareholders acquired the team so this is very much a year of transition,” he said.
“The aim this year is to take a step forward and compete at the front of the midfield once again.
"We recognise this won’t be an easy task because it’s shaping up to be one of the closest midfields we have seen for a long time – with just a few tenths separating a handful of teams.
“We are realistic about the challenge ahead of us and the amount of work needed to achieve our objectives.
"It’s a long season and we have a solid development plan in place. I’d like to think we can be fighting for points in Melbourne and that’s certainly the first objective heading into the first race weekend.”
It would be heartwarming to see a Merc customer team consistently wup the works team. Here’s hoping.
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
Bahrain
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
Australia
Albert Park
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Brazil
Interlagos
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
0 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Otmar Szafnauer
17,962 comments on Racing Point 0 members have this team as their favourite Tweets about Racing Point
G. Zhou
RogerF1
Posts: 501
It would be heartwarming to see a Merc customer team consistently wup the works team. Here’s hoping.