Racing Point have joined a list of teams to test an F1 car in preparation for the Austrian GP set for the weekend of July 5.
Following Mercedes’ pre-season test at Silverstone, Racing Point will be hitting the tarmac at the track that was once an airfield, returning to on-track action – albeit not competitive action – for the first time since F1 pre-season testing at Barcelona back in February.
F1 official site states Lance Stroll is likely to drive, with the Canadian set to navigate the short layout of the track in the Racing Point’s brand new RP20 on Wednesday (June 17), the significance of which is that they will run the 2020 car under a ‘filming’ day guise.
They will be given show Pirelli tyres and only limited kilometers to run as is with the general filming day programme but they will follow the full safety protocol. In the previous F1 test at Silverstone, Mercedes’ drivers did their running in the team’s 2018 challenger.
Meanwhile, Ferrari have yet to test, but when they do, it is expected that they will also do so with older-generation car – possibly the 2018 machine as Mercedes – at one of their private circuits, perhaps Mugello or Fiorano.
As for the other F1 outfits, no plans have been announced, but it has been confirmed that McLaren will not do anything of this sort due to limited supply of old Honda engines, and Renault’s reported refusal to allot power units.
The limited number of tests done up to this point have been largely productive, with Mercedes getting acclimated to new protocols, and the drivers getting their feet wet, with Lewis Hamilton telling the world he’s raring to go after getting into the cockpit once again.
Racing Point will also be hoping to see positive results with their car, it being one that appeared rapid at Barcelona. Some F1 drivers have had time on track with Lando Norris driving a F3 car along with Alexander Albon.
At the same time, the likes of Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kvyat, George Russell, Nicholas Latifi, Kimi Raikkonen and Charles Leclerc have had some kart time. No news has come about for the rest of the pack, including Sebastian Vettel
Here’s Racing Point designer Andrew Green on the complaints about the RP20
Here’s Racing Point on the motive and execution of their RP20 design
Here’s Otmar Szafnauer on Racing Point becoming Aston Martin in 2021
