Sergio Pérez feels his Racing Point F1 Team should be aiming high in 2020, and he can see the Silverstone-based outfit reclaiming fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
The Mexican and his Canadian team-mate Lance Stroll endured a relatively difficult 2019 that saw the team finish seventh in the standings, with Pérez himself finishing no higher than sixth in any race.
Team-mate Stroll achieved fourth in Germany but ultimately slipped to fifteenth in the final standings in the Drivers’ Championship, while a late flurry of top ten finishes saw Pérez conclude the year tenth.
Pérez expects the field to be closer in 2020 than it was this season due to the stabilisation of the regulations, and he wants Racing Point to turn their fortunes around, claim fourth in the standings, with his other goal to stand on the podium once more.
“We can improve a lot. There are great teams out there and everyone is going to improve, so for us to catch up and improve, it will be difficult,” Perez is quoted as saying by Crash.net. “I think podiums and P4 in the championship should be the target for us next year.
“In a way it brings the whole field closer when there is stability in the rules. Generally, over the years we’ve seen that when there is little changing the field tends to be closer together.
“So I expect the grid to come together a bit more next year.”
Racing Point have ‘Big Year Ahead of Us’ in 2020 – Pérez
Racing Point always knew 2019 was going to be a transitional year as they recovered from the 2018 campaign that saw a Lawrence Stroll-led consortium buy out the ailing Sahara Force India F1 Team midway through the year.
They replaced Esteban Ocon with Lance Stroll, but their main problem was just how far behind they were in developing the 2019 chassis, with Pérez admitting they were always playing catch up with their rivals.
“Although it’s been a very difficult year in terms of pace, a slow start and so on,” said the Mexican. “I cannot wait already for 2020, I think it’s a big year ahead for us. We work very hard.
“I think we managed to improve step-by-step but obviously not enough. I don’t think we got close enough to McLaren, they were strong this year.
“Renault were a step ahead but it’s been very close to Toro Rosso I think. They obviously did a better job than us and scored plenty of points when the opportunities were there, so that made a huge difference in the midfield when you are able to score big points.”
