Sergio Pérez expects many lap records to be beaten during the 2020 Formula 1 season, once the year finally gets underway next month at the Red Bull Ring following a three-month delay caused by the coronavirus.
The BWT Racing Point F1 Team driver believes the 2020 machines are the fastest cars ever seen in Formula 1 history, and Pérez predicts that many Qualifying sessions will see new lap records being set, particularly with the speeds they do in the fast corners.
“We are driving the fastest cars in the history of Formula 1,” said Pérez to the official Formula 1 website. “You cannot imagine the speeds that we do in fast corners.
“It’s nothing close to previous years. The qualifying laps are going to be amazing. We are going to be breaking all lap records this year with the generation of cars we have, they’re simply the best cars.”
Pérez revealed that he had chats with both Otmar Szafnauer, the CEO and Team Principal of Racing Point, and chief engineer Tom McCullough about the potential of the RP20, and everyone is encouraged heading into the new season.
“I had a call with Otmar and also with Tom, our chief engineer, and I was telling them ‘you know, for the first time in our careers, we have a competitive car’,” said Perez. “We obviously don’t know how competitive it [the RP20] is, but we know it’s quite encouraging.
“Going to Melbourne in that sense, [with] all the preparation we’d all done, knowing that we had a good car underneath us was very painful, very painful. But it’s a painful time for everybody. We just have to stay united.”
