Racing Point abandons Mercedes philosophy with new updates
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The Racing Point RP20 is a very controversial car this year. This is mainly due to its resemblance to last year's Mercedes car. But it now seems that at Racing Point they are moving away from the philosophy of the W10 as they continue to develop their car.
According to Mark Hughes, from 'F1's Tech Tuesday', the highly updated Lance Stroll car we saw in the Mugello Grand Prix is a big change from last year's Mercedes W10. "The update comprised totally reshaped sidepods, new front brake ducts, a new rear wing endplate and minor tweaks to the profile of the front wing elements." However, Hughes does see parts in this update that seem to be directly inspired by this year's Mercedes car, the W11.
Successful update
At Mugello, unfortunately for Perez, there were only enough parts for just one of the two Racing Points cars. But fortunately for the Mexican, his car was also fully upgraded in about two weeks in Sochi. " Stroll’s performance throughout the weekend strongly suggested that the upgrade was an effective one", concludes Hughes.
However, the race at Mugello ended in a disappointment for Stroll. In lap 42 he shot off the track, probably due to a blown tyre. At that moment the Canadian was fourth. He could not continue his race.