No wonder Racing Point followed Mercedes in tyre vote: "They give us everything"
F1 News
When the tyre change was up for a vote, Racing Point followed Mercedes lead in disagreeing with the change. After Otmar Szafnauer's comments, it's no surprise that Racing Point supported Mercedes.
“Well, Mercedes are a very good partner of ours, they’ve helped us through, even at times when we weren’t paying our bills. But more importantly, you know, people forget all that kind of stuff when performance level changes. I can say that we’re very, very happy with what they’ve done, and they’re a great partner. We get our gearbox from them too, don’t forget. It’s a big deal.”
With the champions supporting them, you'd think Racing Point would be in a good position. Even with their engine and gearbox, Racing Point sit near the bottom of the grid, just above Williams (another Mercedes engine).
They could end up struggling even more if Mercedes decided to leave the sport. But Szafnauer isn't expecting that to come anytime soon, even with the 2021 regulation overhaul.
"[The future] that’s for them to decide. I don’t know. If I’m guessing, I think Mercedes get good value from the sport, they’ve done a great job, I think it’s good for their brand that they’re winning. So If I were the decision maker, but I’m not, I would say, ‘Yes, I’ll continue’. To me, it’s a logical sport for a car manufacturer to be in," Szafnauer concluding his interview with RaceFans.net.