Racing Point targets P4 with new RP20
Racing Point’s 2020 car has been unveiled at the headquarters of its new title sponsor BWT in Austria, and the team is aiming high for the new season.
The RP20 was unveiled in Mondsee near Salzburg just two days before the start of pre-season testing in Barcelona, with the team also being rebranded to officially become BWT Racing Point F1 Team. Following the end of the previous title sponsorship with Sport Pesa, the BWT expansion sees the standout pink livery remain, with team principal Otmar Szafnauer targeting fourth place in the constructors’ championship this season.
“This year we want to be a strong fourth, we want to be closer to the top three than we’ve ever been in the past and top of the midfield,” Szafnauer said. “This year we want to take a step up and be where we can be. It’s not that easy, the competition’s getting stronger – McLaren did a really good job last year; Renault with the motor company and the 650 employees behind them; even Toro Rosso with the work that Honda did…
“It was an incredibly busy (winter). I think we took two days off, Christmas and New Years’, but the rest of the time we worked... we felt like one-armed wallpaper hangers. Seasons are getting longer... the nice thing is we only have six days of testing so that helps a little bit but there is no break, it is year round.
“The conundrum is really, when do you stop developing and start manufacturing? We were looking among the spares we had for Australia and our spares are going to be a bit limited… if you have too many parts it means you stop developing too early and you have too much manufacturing time. The successful teams, they can squeeze that manufacturing time.”
Szafnauer also admitted that the RP20 will look very different to its launch guise once it hits the track in Barcelona, with a number of parts not yet on the new car.
2020 is the last year the team will be named as Racing Point, with it set to become the Aston Martin works team next season.
Presented by:
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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