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Racing Point team principal Otmar Szafnauer says that his team will unveil a "quite different" car for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
During pre-season testing, the team confirmed that it would be bringing a significant upgrade to Melbourne.
At Barcelona, it didn't rack up strong mileage due to a lack of parts. But as it prepares for its first year under its new identity, it is aiming to start the year strongly with a heavily upgraded car this weekend.
"Winter testing saw us achieve our main objectives and we took away a lot of positives, but the car you will see in Melbourne is quite different from the car we ran in Barcelona," commented Szafnauer.
“We took the strategic decision to give ourselves the maximum time to develop the car, to maximise our performance at the first race, and that meant holding back a little during testing.
"It’s not easy introducing new parts late in the day and we know it will be a steep learning curve, but we believe this approach will pay off in the long run.”
Szafanuer is expecting another close battle between the midfield teams, as he labels Racing Point's upcoming season as a "transition" year.
"A big part of the RP19 was designed before the new shareholders acquired the team so this is very much a year of transition,” he said.
“The aim this year is to take a step forward and compete at the front of the midfield once again.
"We recognise this won’t be an easy task because it’s shaping up to be one of the closest midfields we have seen for a long time – with just a few tenths separating a handful of teams.
“We are realistic about the challenge ahead of us and the amount of work needed to achieve our objectives.
"It’s a long season and we have a solid development plan in place. I’d like to think we can be fighting for points in Melbourne and that’s certainly the first objective heading into the first race weekend.”
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RogerF1
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It would be heartwarming to see a Merc customer team consistently wup the works team. Here’s hoping.