Lance Stroll gets exclusive Racing Point F1 aero updates for Russian GP

Lance Stroll will once again be the sole Racing Point Formula 1 driver to run the team’s new aerodynamic upgrade package at the Russian Grand Prix.

Racing Point had originally planned to run its latest updates on both cars this weekend at Sochi, but Stroll’s heavy crash following a tyre failure late on during the last race at Mugello caused significant damage to his RP20.

Parts of the major upgrade – which included new sidepods and brake ducts – were destroyed in the impact and the Silverstone-based outfit did not have enough time to create spares before travelling to Russia after a delay in production.

Due to being higher in the championship than Perez, who was forced to skip both Silverstone rounds due to testing positive for COVID-19, Stroll will have the upgrade on his car again at Sochi.

Perez, who finished fifth at Mugello, will now have to wait until at least the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring next month to get to run the new package.

Speaking after the Tuscan Grand Prix, Racing Point team principal Otmar Szafnauer was confident the upgrades had improved his side’s performance but could not put an exact number on it.

"It is hard to know," he replied when asked how much lap time the package had brought to the table.

"However our upgrade was meant to be a couple or three tenths, and that is exactly what the performance difference was [between the two cars]."

Racing Point is embroiled in a tight fight over third place in the constructors’ championship and currently occupies fourth, 14 points behind McLaren.