78 GP RACING MARCH 2020
arrangement with Mercedes is nodiff erent to
Racing Point’s use of the Toyotafacility.
“We and McLarenused theColognetunnel,”
he says. “And ourcars aretotally diff erent. Weput
our own model in there, collect our owndata on
our own computers and w e walk away.”
The identity of the team isalso due a makeover.
In Janua ry, Lawrence Stroll becamechairmanof
Aston Martin after leadinganother consortium of
businessmen – including JCB founder Anthony
Bamford– in a £500million rescue of the
troubl ed prestige carmaker.Atthat point the
company wasworth a quarter of whatits market
valuation hadbeen when it fl oated in 2018.So,
like Racing Point,which willbe renamed Aston
MartinRacing next season, it has somethingof a
mountainto climbto recapture past glories.
Being attached to a prestige name oughtto hel p
the team access a newstrata of premium brands
as pote ntial sponsors, buton-track performancehas to roughly alignwiththe image. F1’s midfi eld
scrap was vicious last year andislike ly to be more
so this season,given stability int he technical
rules. What RacingPoin t needs isfor both drivers
to fi nish in the top tenat everyrace.
“The team has never been inthis positio n
before [having anall-new car], so I’d saythat this
is the best base that we’ve hadfor manyyears,”
says Sergio Pérez. He has aproven aptitude for
bagging whateverpoints areon the table at any
grand prix– Szafnauer says he’s “at the peak of
his career” – butthe contributionof the team’ s
other driver is less certain. Lance Strollurgently
needs to improve hisqualifying performances
to give himself less todo in the races.
Perhaps it’sapt tha t the son of the team’s
saviour has acritical role to playin its ongoing
prosperity. Here’s hoping – at the risk of
labouring the mountain metaphors to breaking
point – that it’sno t an uphill struggle.“IT’S A BIG YEAR WITH THE NEWRULES COMING. WE’RE GOINGTO HAVE
TO STOP DEVELOPINGTHIS CARAT SOME POINT ANDTURN OUR EYESTO
2021 WHILE BUILDING THE NEWFACTORY. IT’S A RECIPE FOR DISASTER
UNLESSYOU MANAGE THAT CHANGE WITH THEGOAL OF ZERO
DISRUPTION IN MIND”OTMAR SZAFNAUER
shop. And we’ll have more spacefor more people.
All thoseefficiencies will be built into the ne w
facility,plus R&Dwill be expanded, to allow for
pushing the boundaries of the design a littlemore.
“We set ourselves the goalofmoving to thenew
factory without disrupting thetec hnical team,”
Otmar adds. “It’sa big yearwith the new rules
coming. We’regoing to haveto stop developing
this car atsome point andturn our eyes to 2021
while building thenew factory. It’s a recipefor
disaster unlessyou managethat change with the
goal of zerodisrup tion in mind.”
One thing you won’tfi nd on the new campus
is a windtunnel. Racing Pointis now using
Mercedes’, having abandonedits own infavour
of the Toyota tunnel inCologne back in 2015.
Conducting research in anothercountry brought
inconvenience andextra costs, as we ll as adding
inertia to thedesign process. When theshift to
the Mercedes tunnel wasannounced, naturally
the conspiracy theorists prognosticated this was
a precur sor to Racing Point ineffect becominga
Mercedes ‘B-team’. The team is alreadyfi elding
queries tothis effectfollowing thelaunchof its
2020 car,with G reen describing it as ‘Haas MkII’.
Given Racing Point’s investmentin newfacilities
and personnel, that seemsunlikely longer term.
Szafnauer alsodismisses it, suggesting the2020 SEASON PREVIEW
78 GP RACING MARCH 2020
arrangement with Mercedes is nodiff erent to
Racing Point’s use of the Toyotafacility.
“We and McLarenused theColognetunnel,”
he says. “And ourcars aretotally diff erent. Weput
our own model in there, collect our owndata on
our own computers and w e walk away.”
The identity of the team isalso due a makeover.
In Janua ry, Lawrence Stroll becamechairmanof
Aston Martin after leadinganother consortium of
businessmen – including JCB founder Anthony
Bamford– in a £500million rescue of the
troubl ed prestige carmaker.Atthat point the
company wasworth a quarter of whatits market
valuation hadbeen when it fl oated in 2018.So,
like Racing Point,which willbe renamed Aston
MartinRacing next season, it has somethingof a
mountainto climbto recapture past glories.
Being attached to a prestige name oughtto hel p
the team access a newstrata of premium brands
as pote ntial sponsors, buton-track performancehas to roughly alignwiththe image. F1’s midfi eld
scrap was vicious last year andislike ly to be more
so this season,given stability int he technical
rules. What RacingPoin t needs isfor both drivers
to fi nish in the top tenat everyrace.
“The team has never been inthis positio n
before [having anall-new car], so I’d saythat this
is the best base that we’ve hadfor manyyears,”
says Sergio Pérez. He has aproven aptitude for
bagging whateverpoints areon the table at any
grand prix– Szafnauer says he’s “at the peak of
his career” – butthe contributionof the team’ s
other driver is less certain. Lance Strollurgently
needs to improve hisqualifying performances
to give himself less todo in the races.
Perhaps it’sapt tha t the son of the team’s
saviour has acritical role to playin its ongoing
prosperity. Here’s hoping – at the risk of
labouring the mountain metaphors to breaking
point – that it’sno t an uphill struggle.“IT’S A BIG YEAR WITH THE NEWRULES COMING. WE’RE GOINGTO HAVE
TO STOP DEVELOPINGTHIS CARAT SOME POINT ANDTURN OUR EYESTO
2021 WHILE BUILDING THE NEWFACTORY. IT’S A RECIPE FOR DISASTER
UNLESSYOU MANAGE THAT CHANGE WITH THEGOAL OF ZERO
DISRUPTION IN MIND”OTMAR SZAFNAUER
shop. And we’ll have more spacefor more people.
All thoseefficiencies will be built into the ne w
facility,plus R&Dwill be expanded, to allow for
pushing the boundaries of the design a littlemore.
“We set ourselves the goalofmoving to thenew
factory without disrupting thetec hnical team,”
Otmar adds. “It’sa big yearwith the new rules
coming. We’regoing to haveto stop developing
this car atsome point andturn our eyes to 2021
while building thenew factory. It’s a recipefor
disaster unlessyou managethat change with the
goal of zerodisrup tion in mind.”
One thing you won’tfi nd on the new campus
is a windtunnel. Racing Pointis now using
Mercedes’, having abandonedits own infavour
of the Toyota tunnel inCologne back in 2015.
Conducting research in anothercountry brought
inconvenience andextra costs, as we ll as adding
inertia to thedesign process. When theshift to
the Mercedes tunnel wasannounced, naturally
the conspiracy theorists prognosticated this was
a precur sor to Racing Point ineffect becominga
Mercedes ‘B-team’. The team is alreadyfi elding
queries tothis effectfollowing thelaunchof its
2020 car,with G reen describing it as ‘Haas MkII’.
Given Racing Point’s investmentin newfacilities
and personnel, that seemsunlikely longer term.
Szafnauer alsodismisses it, suggesting the2020 SEASON PREVIEW