Gulf News

Perez and Stroll target set for 2020

- BY ALARIC GOMES Chief Reporter

The Racing Point F1 Team are keenly looking forward to “complete some of the unfinished business” heading into the 2020 season.

Based in Silverston­e, the team were re-named in February 2019 from Racing Point Force India, with Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll on their roster.

The team made their debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix with Mexican Perez the better of the two drivers in 10th position with 46 points, while his teammate from Canada is in 15th with 21 points.

With Mercedes already winning yet another constructo­rs’ crown at the top of the table with 701 points, Racing Point are in seventh with 67 points — keeping Alfa Romeo (57), Haas (28) and Williams (1) at bay.

“We want to finish on a high and that’s a huge goal for us heading into Abu Dhabi,” Perez said.

“I think for both of us 2020 will be a huge year. We have managed to improve step by step alongside teams like Torro Rosso and Renault and McLaren. But, now we’ve got to look ahead and see how we can score those big points.”

Teammate Stroll, whose best was a fourth place at the German Grand Prix, was equally optimistic. “I think we are both in a much more competitiv­e environmen­t now than before. We’ve got a great group of engineers and everyone is excited for the next year as we’ve got some unfinished business for 2020,” the Canadian said.

“No doubt, we’ve had plenty of those ups and downs. But there’s a lot of team developmen­t work that needs to be done so that we can all work harder and be more competitiv­e with the rest of the group.”

Earlier this year, at the Belgian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Stroll has been re-signed for 2020 and that Perez will stay with the team at least until 2022 — making him one of the longest-serving drivers with a single team after eight consecutiv­e years with the outfit that’s sponsored by Kenya-based SportPesa.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates