Racing Point RP20

The Racing Point RP20 is a Formula One racing car designed and developed by the Racing Point F1 Team, to compete in the 2020 Formula One World Championship. It is the second car built by the team,[1] and will be the team's last car to be launched under the name of Racing Point, as the team is set to be rebranded as Aston Martin during the 2021 Formula One World Championship.[2] The RP20 is set to be driven by Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll.[3] The car was planned to make its competitive debut at the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, but this was delayed when the race was cancelled and the next three events in Bahrain, Vietnam and China were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5] The RP20 made its debut at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.

Racing Point RP20
An RP20 driven by Sergio Pérez during pre-season testing.
CategoryFormula One
ConstructorRacing Point
Designer(s)Andrew Green
(Technical Director)
Akio Haga (Design Director)
Ian Hall (Chief Designer)
Simon Phillips (Head of Aerodynamics)
PredecessorRacing Point RP19
Technical specifications
EngineMercedes M11 EQ Performance (rebadged as BWT Mercedes)
FuelPetronas
LubricantsRavenol
TyresPirelli P Zero (Dry/Slick)
Pirelli Cinturato (Wet/Treaded)
Competition history
Notable entrantsBWT Racing Point Formula One Team
Notable drivers
Debut2020 Austrian Grand Prix
Last event2020 Spanish Grand Prix
RacesWinsPodiumsPolesF.Laps
60000

The pandemic also prompted the delay of technical regulations that had been planned for introduction in 2021. Under an agreement reached between teams and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, 2020-specification cars—including the RP20—will see their lifespan extended to compete in 2021.[6]

The car has faced criticism and is currently under investigation due to its close resemblance to the Mercedes W10 run by Mercedes in 2019.

Background

The car passed its crash test in January 2020, which was conducted at Cranfield Impact Centre in Bedfordshire, England, and allowed its homologation with the FIA.[7] Racing Point team principal Otmar Szafnauer described the car as an evolution of its previous contender, owing to the relative lack of change in the regulations for the 2020 season, and that the team had begun work on the car in July 2019, ahead of the mid-season summer break.[8]

Pre-season criticism

During 2020 Formula One pre-season testing the car was nicknamed the "Pink Mercedes" and "Tracing Point" due to its apparent resemblance to the Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ used by Mercedes during 2019. Racing Point's technical director Andrew Green stated that the car "shares some resemblances in some areas" but denied that there had been a transfer of designs between the teams.[9] The design caused controversy amongst other teams, with McLaren team principal Zak Brown referring to the RP20 as "what appears to be last year's Mercedes" prior to the season opening Austrian Grand Prix.[10]

Protests

After the Styrian Grand Prix, Renault lodged a formal protest against the legality of the RP20, suggesting its brake ducts (a part teams must design themselves) may be too similar to the Mercedes W10's.[11] Brake ducts of the RP20 were impounded and stewards requested Mercedes provide brake ducts from the W10 for comparison.[12] Renault also made an identical protest to the results of Hungarian Grand Prix regarding the RP20's legality.[13] The same protest was repeated by Renault at Silverstone following the British Grand Prix.[14] Ferrari submitted a request for clarification by the FIA on the same grounds as the Renault protest.[15][16] The FIA upheld the Renault protests, fining Racing Point €400,000 and deducting 15 points from the constructors' championship.[17] It stated that while the car complied with the technical regulations, the design process of the rear brake ducts constituted a breach of the sporting regulations. Because Racing Point had based the design of the part off of CAD drawings supplied by Mercedes, the FIA viewed Mercedes, not Racing Point, as the designers of the rear brake ducts. However, the design process of the front brake ducts was deemed legal, as the team had used a similar design in 2019, when teams were not required to design brake ducts themselves.[18]

Season summary

Sergio Pérez was forced to skip the British Grand Prix and the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19 and he was replaced by Nico Hülkenberg, who failed to start after a power unit issue in the first race and scored six points with a 7th-place finish in the second.

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year Entrant Power unit Tyres Driver name Grands Prix Points WCC Ref.
2020 BWT Racing Point
F1 Team		 BWT Mercedes P AUT STY HUN GBR 70A ESP BEL ITA TUS RUS EIF POR EMI 63* 3rd*
Sergio Pérez 6 6 7 WD 5
Nico Hülkenberg DNS 7
Lance Stroll Ret 7 4 9 6 4
Notes
  • * Championship in progress.
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References
  1. "Formula 1 - Racing Point to launch on February 17th". FormulaSpy. 2020-01-22. Archived from the original on 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  2. Silvestro, Brian (2020-01-31). "Racing Point F1 Team to Be Renamed Aston Martin Racing in 2021". Road & Track. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  3. "F1 2020: The complete driver line-up". PlanetF1. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  4. Coch, Mat (2020-03-13). "Confirmed: F1 cancelled at Australian Grand Prix". Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  5. "Bahrain and Vietnam Grands Prix postponed". Formula1.com. 2020-03-13. Archived from the original on 2020-03-15. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  6. Herrero, Daniel (2020-03-20). "Formula 1's new regulations delayed until 2022". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Archived from the original on 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  7. Delaney, Michael (2020-01-06). "Racing Point F1's 2020 contender passes crash test". F1i.com. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  8. "New Racing Point car 'not a clean slate', launches Feb 17". RACER. 2020-01-22. Archived from the original on 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  9. "Racing Point defend RP20 similarities to the Mercedes W10". GPfans. Archived from the original on 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  10. Parkes, Ian (2020-06-24). "McLaren worried by challenge from "what appears to be last year's Mercedes"". GPfans. Archived from the original on 2020-06-29. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  11. George, Dhruv (2020-07-12). "Renault F1 Hit Back at Racing Point, File Official Complaint Over Legality of RP20". EssentiallySports. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  12. "FIA impound Racing Point parts, hearing to come". Planet F1. 2020-07-12. Archived from the original on 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  13. Boxall-Legge, Jake (2020-07-20). "F1 news: Renault protests Racing Point again in Hungary". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  14. "Renault lodges third protest against Racing Point". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  15. "Ferrari enter into Racing Point copycat saga". PlanetF1. 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  16. "Ferrari requests Racing Point design clarification from FIA". The Race. 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  17. "Racing Point deducted 15 points and fined heavily as Renault protest into car legality upheld". Formula1.com. 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  18. "F1 - Renault Protest Decision". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
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