Racing Point ‘relishing’ F1 return after strong winter showing

Racing Point CEO and team principal Otmar Szafnauer says the outfit is relishing the prospect of getting back out on track after such an extended period of uncertainty.

The 2020 F1 season will kick off on June 3-5 at the Red Bull Ring, the first of two back-to-back events to be held at the Austrian venue.

The opening round takes place more than four months after the pre-season testing came to a conclusion, creating something of an unknown as operations fire up again.

However, Racing Point comes into season confident about its chances after a strong showing in pre-season testing with its perceived ‘pink Mercedes’, dubbed as such due to the RP20’s similarity to the 2019 Mercedes W10.

“First and foremost, on a personal level and on behalf of the team, I applaud the work that has been done by all stakeholders over the past three months to get us back racing,” Szafnauer told F1.com. “While clearly it won’t be the same without the fans in the grandstands – and we’ll sorely miss their enthusiasm and support – it’s entirely sensible to start the season behind closed doors.

“It’s going to be an intense few months for us all,” he added, referring to the tightly-packed initial portion of the calendar, which will see the teams racing eight times in 10 weeks.

“But… we’re all in agreement that the proposed plan is manageable and, knowing what I know of our team, they’ll relish the challenge. At the end of the day, we’re all racers. This is our passion and we’re excited to get back to it.”