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Why Racing Point, not Mercedes, could be Red Bull's true rivals in 2020
It takes no great time to work out that Racing Point are one of Formula One’s most improved teams in 2020. After entering administration in 2018, the then-Force India were bought out by a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll, renaming the team.
2019 was a year of stabilisation, of getting the infrastructure in place behind the scenes. Still, on track the results were respectable — 73 points including a particularly strong finish from Perez. Next season they will become Aston Martin, and they are already looking like living up to that storied name.
They are currently fourth in the constructors’ championship with 22 points, ahead of both Renault and Ferrari. In 2019 it took until the 11th round for them to reach that total. Their 14 points for sixth and seventh in the Styrian Grand Prix represents the team’s best result since the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix.
Yet Racing Point should be one of the most dissatisfied teams on the grid leaving Austria after two rounds. Their 22 points should have been perhaps double that. An encouraging start, yes, but their true pace and potential has been hidden. Look behind the headline numbers and you see that the team are not just midfield leaders but could be a realistic threat to Red Bull, who are now the outright second quickest team but have made hardly a dent in Mercedes’ advantage since last season.
At the first race at the Red Bull Ring, Lance Stroll’s retirement cost his team a handful of points. An incorrect strategy call in the final Safety Car period towards the end of the race cost Perez an almost certain podium position, if not more. Their direct rivals, Ferrari and McLaren, negotiated the chaotic climax of the race much better, with Charles Leclerc in second and Lando Norris stealing the final podium spot after mugging Perez up the inside of turn three in the closing stages. Eight points was a poor return.
A week later and it was a substandard qualifying session that undid Racing Point’s hope of delivering. After second practice, even Red Bull looked vulnerable to them on one-lap pace. But Perez struggled to tame the RP20 in the rain and did not make it through to Q2, let alone Q3. He would start down in 17th. Lance Stroll fared a little better, in 13th.
But the ease with which Perez, in particular, and Stroll scythed through the field on race day underlines how fundamentally quick the RP20 is. It should make everyone else take notice. Renault certainly did, lodging a protest at the similarity of the RP20’s brake ducts to last year’s Mercedes after the race. The likeness to last year’s championship-winning car has not gone unnoticed and has clearly incurred the interest — and a little more — of their rivals.
At the end of lap one, Perez had not made up a single place from 17th but after six laps he was 11th, behind Lando Norris’s McLaren. The most impressive pace came in the race’s middle phase. Perez matched Albon, who was running in clean air in fourth, in the first stint, despite the Mexican having to make his way through the field. But the real indication of his speed came once he had dispatched Daniel Ricciardo for fifth on lap 48.
From that point he made up five seconds on the next seven laps as he reeled Albon in. Perez set fastest lap after fastest lap. For a 10-lap stint, his pace matched Bottas — then on a charge of his own to catch Verstappen — almost exactly. Albon was in a car, then, good enough for second in the hands of Verstappen, but after 55 laps he was 41 seconds behind him.
Albon kept fourth as a result of backmarkers delaying Perez’s charge and the Mexican botching his move into turn four and damaging his front wing. But had the Racing Points not started so out of position on the grid it is hard to think that he would have kept either or both at bay. This should be a massive concern for both Albon and Red Bull.
If Albon cannot close the performance gap to Verstappen he is in danger of repeating Pierre Gasly’s experiences in 2019. With Ferrari way off the pace, the expectation might have been that a bad weekend for Albon would be fourth at worst. But, as Sunday shows, that is not the case. This gives Racing Point an opportunity to beat at least one Red Bull, if not two, with a poor showing from Albon putting him behind both Racing Points. He could then become mired in a battle with McLaren, Renault and Ferrari. This would also hamper them strategically against Mercedes, with Verstappen out on his own.
Gasly’s nadir in 2019 came at this very track. Verstappen put in a late charge to take a sensational victory, whilst the Frenchman did not even finish on the lead lap. That was almost repeated with Albon on Sunday.
With a resurgent Racing Point — and to a lesser extent McLaren — closer than ever, Red Bull cannot take for granted that they will be the second-best team at any race weekend, or even that second in the championship is guaranteed. The merits of selecting Albon are another argument but with only half the year until the end of the season, time is running out.
Verstappen’s abilities are likely to keep him out of this fight, at least, but there could still be races where he is closer to it than to the Mercedes. For Racing Point to have someone who is as skilled a race driver as Perez gives them the opportunity to maximise their results and, on current pace, challenge Red Bull.
The Mexican has made a career of doing that, claiming eight podium finishes despite never being in a truly front-running car. He is worth his weight in gold to this team. Stroll, too, is more adept a racer than qualifier and could provide decent support, as he did on Sunday.
But should Racing Point behind be as much of a concern for Red Bull as Mercedes ahead? Going by what we know so far, yes. Granted, we have only seen action over two rounds at one track. But the championship favourites look in a league of their own in both qualifying and race pace.
The reality is that Racing Point can be to Red Bull what Red Bull are to Mercedes — competent challengers proving often a thorn in their side. But the Silverstone-based team have had a difficult start to the season and have yet to show their true potential. If they can unlock a little more pace in qualifying and deliver on it in races, they could become a persistent problem for Red Bull. It would not be outlandish to entertain the possibility of even more than that.
