Perez Thrilled By SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team Car In Barcelona

19th February 2019 - by SPN Correspondent

Mexican star clocks fastest time of 1:19.944 to finish seventh ahead of Formula 1 champions Lewis Hamilton

The RP19 car with Sergio Perez on board flies through the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the opening day of pre-season testing in Spain on February 18, 2019. PHOTO/SPN

SUMMARY

Four-time world champion, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel set the pace, with a lap 0.4 seconds quicker than McLaren's Carlos Sainz Vettel, Haas driver Romain Grosjean and Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Perez out performed the reigning titleholder, Lewis Hamilton who took out his McLaren Mercedes in the afternoon to finish ninth of the 11 teams that took to the testing track in Barcelona
SportPesa Racing Point F1 team Performance Engineering Director, Tom McCullough, declared the new car had passed its first test

BARCELONA, Spain- SportPesa Racing Point F1 team driver Sergio Perez set a fastest time of 1:19.994 to finish seventh in the Barcelona pre-season testing on Monday as the new Formula 1 car enjoyed its on-track debut in Spain.

Four-time world champion, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel set the pace, with a lap 0.4 seconds quicker than McLaren's Carlos Sainz, Haas driver Romain Grosjean and Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Perez out performed the reigning titleholder, Lewis Hamilton who took out his McLaren Mercedes in the afternoon to finish ninth of the 11 teams that took to the testing track in Barcelona, with the Williams team machine failing to make it as delays continue plaguing the outfit.

“It was a typical first day of testing, with a lot of checks and not a lot of running. It was effectively our shakedown and, even though the day was a bit shorter than expected, I felt quite happy with the car straight away,” Perez said after the encouraging start.

The RP19 car driver went through 30 laps with a mileage of 140Km in the new car that was unveiled on Valentines’ Day (February 14) at the Canadian International Auto Show.

“The mileage wasn’t great but I think it was still a promising start. I am happy with the performance we managed to get out of the car and with its balance.

“The conditions weren’t great: the track was quite cold and green to begin with, but I end the first day feeling positive,” Perez added.

Season proper

The Mexican racing star is however, confident the SportPesa Racing Point F1 team will achieve its objectives of shaking it up with the big boys when the season proper gets underway on Sunday, March 17 with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

SportPesa Racing Point F1 team driver Sergio Perez pictured in the cockpit of the RP19 car on the opening day of pre-season testing in Spain on February 18, 2019. PHOTO/SPN

“It was important to start understanding the car as much as we could and for me to make myself comfortable with it as a driver,” the former Ferrari Academy Driver emphasised.

SportPesa Racing Point F1 team Performance Engineering Director, Tom McCullough, declared the new car had passed its first test.

“It’s always exciting when the car finally takes to the track for the first day of testing. Today (Monday) was basically our shakedown and the first opportunity to check installation of all the new parts and various systems,” he remarked.

McCullough further noted the performance on the first day of practise had given engineers invaluable insight on what to work on to get the RP19 car race-ready for Melbourne.

“We had some teething problems, which caused us some downtime across the day, and a small oil leak, but nothing overly concerning.

“Sergio was very upbeat about the initial feeling from the car and the baseline set-up so that’s really encouraging feedback,” the Engineering Director told.

According to McCullough, the second SportPesa Racing Point F1 Belgian-Canadian driver Lance Stroll will get a feel of the car in the second day of practice at the same circuit on Tuesday.

“The focus will be on aero data collection and adding more miles to the car,” he explained.

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Barcelona Pre-Season Testing

Week 1, Day 1 – 18 February 2019

Driver: Sergio Perez

Laps: 30

Best time: 1:19.994

Position: P7 of 11

Mileage: 140 km