 | |
| Full name | BWT Racing Point F1 Team |
|---|---|
| Base | Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England, UK |
| Founder(s) | Lawrence Stroll |
| Noted staff |
|
| Noted drivers | |
| Previous name | Racing Point Force India |
| Next name | Aston Martin F1 Team |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 2019 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 38 |
| Engines | BWT Mercedes[a] |
| Constructors' Championships | 0 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 1 |
| Podiums | 4 |
| Points | 268 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
Racing Point F1 Team, which competed asBWT Racing Point F1 Team and commonly known asRacing Point, was a British motor racing team and constructor thatRacing Point UK entered into theFormula One World Championship. The team was based inSilverstone, England and competed under aBritish licence.
The team was renamed in February 2019 fromRacing Point Force India F1 Team, which used the constructor name of Force India for the latter half of the2018 season. Racing Point made their racing debut at the2019 Australian Grand Prix. The team's drivers for the 2020 season wereSergio Pérez andLance Stroll. The team rebranded toAston Martin for the2021 Formula One season.[1]
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Racing Point's origins lie in theJordan Grand Prix team, which first raced in1991. Jordan saw moderate success in the late 1990s and early 2000s, particularly in1999 when the team achieved two race victories and finished 3rd in the World Constructors' Championship. A decline in performance followed, culminating in the team being sold to theMidland Group in 2005 and being renamedMidland F1 Racing for the2006 season. The team remained unsuccessful, failing to score any points. Midland F1 was sold to Dutch sports car marqueSpyker Cars late in the season, before becomingSpyker F1 in2007. After another season with little improvement, albeit with the team scoring its first point in over two years at the2007 Japanese Grand Prix, the team was sold to Indian businessmanVijay Mallya.
TheSilverstone-based team was renamedForce India for the2008 season, its fourth identity in as many years. Force India saw moderate success across its ten and a half years in Formula One, achieving apole position at the2009 Belgian Grand Prix, six podium places and finishing 4th in the World Constructors' Championship in both2016 and2017. During the2018 season, the team was put intoadministration as a result of financial and legal troubles encountered by team owner Mallya. Force India's assets were purchased byRacing Point UK, a consortium led by Canadian businessmanLawrence Stroll. However, the team's Formula One entry was not transferable, marking the official end of the entry originating in 1991. The team was renamedRacing Point Force India for the remainder of the 2018 season before becoming Racing Point for the 2019 season.
Racing Point confirmed in November 2018 thatLance Stroll andSergio Pérez would be the two drivers for the 2019 season.[2] The 2019 season also saw the team branded as "SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team", acknowledging lead sponsorSportPesa, asports betting company based inKenya. The team's car for the 2019 season, theRacing Point RP19, was announced inToronto, Canada.[3] The team scored points at each of the first four races of the season, including a double points finish inAzerbaijan as Pérez and Stroll finished 6th and 9th respectively. Despite this early success, Racing Point went on to struggle during the middle part of the season, with Stroll's 9th place inCanada being the team's only points finish in the following six races. Their best result of the season came at theGerman Grand Prix, where Stroll briefly led the race as a result of tyre strategy in the wet weather before eventually finishing 4th.
Racing Point's fortunes improved in the second half of the season after the team brought significant upgrades ahead of theBelgian Grand Prix.[4] Over the next nine races, Pérez scored points in all but one—retiring from theSingapore Grand Prix with an oil leak. This points streak brought Racing Point ahead ofAlfa Romeo in the standings, finishing the season in 7th place with 73 points.
At the2019 Belgian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Stroll had been re-signed for 2020 and Pérez had been signed until the end of2022. Pérez was set to spend at least nine consecutive seasons with the team in total since joining in2014, albeit across four different names.[5][6] SportPesa ended their title sponsorship arrangement with Racing Point, with Austrian water technology companyBWT becoming the team's new title sponsor.[7] During pre-season testing Racing Point's car, theRP20 caused controversy due to its resemblance to theMercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+, which won the2019 Formula One World Championship.[8] Following theStyrian Grand Prix a formal protest was launched against the RP20 specifically surrounding the brake ducts which the rules dictate must be designed by the team. Officials have impounded the brake ducts from both the RP20 and the W10 to investigate the protest.[9] Three days before theBritish Grand Prix, Pérez tested positive forCOVID-19. Due to this Pérez was unable to participate in both the British Grand Prix and the70th Anniversary Grand Prix.Nico Hülkenberg served as a substitute driver for both events.[10] Between theBritish and70th Anniversary Grands Prix, Racing Point was fined €400,000 and had 15 constructors points deducted after the protest lodged by Renault F1 Team was upheld.[11]
At theItalian Grand Prix, Stroll finished third and took the team's first ever podium. At theEifel Grand Prix, Lance Stroll was unable to participate in qualifying and the race due to having tested positive forcoronavirus. Hülkenberg would serve as his substitute for the next two sessions, finishing 8th after starting 20th.
At theTurkish Grand Prix, Stroll achieved the team's first-ever pole position, with teammate Pérez qualifying third. In the race, Stroll led early into the race but eventually dropped to ninth, while Pérez achieved second place, taking the team's second podium finish. Pérez came close to taking the team's third podium finish in theBahrain Grand Prix, but a late engine failure in lap 54 forced him to retire. Earlier in the race, Stroll's car was flipped upside down due to a collision withDaniil Kvyat, which meant Bahrain was the first race in which both cars did not score a point in the 2020 season.[citation needed] At theSakhir Grand Prix, Pérez gave Racing Point their first win as a constructor and as a legal entity while Stroll also finished on the podium with his 3rd-place finish.[12] This was the first time any incarnation of the team had won a race since Jordan won the2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.[13] It was the fifth Grand Prix victory for any incarnation of the team.[14]
AfterLawrence Stroll bought a 16.7% stake inAston Martin, the team rebranded toAston Martin F1 Team.[15]
(key)
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | RP19 | BWT Mercedes 1.6V6t[a] | P | AUS | BHR | CHN | AZE | ESP | MON | CAN | FRA | AUT | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | RUS | JPN | MEX | USA | BRA | ABU | 73 | 7th | |
 Sergio Pérez | 13 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 17 | Ret | 11 | 6 | 7 | Ret | 7 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 7 | ||||||
 Lance Stroll | 9 | 14 | 12 | 9 | Ret | 16 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 19† | Ret | ||||||
| 2020 | RP20 | BWT Mercedes 1.6V6t[a] | P | AUT | STY | HUN | GBR | 70A | ESP | BEL | ITA | TUS | RUS | EIF | POR | EMI | TUR | BHR | SKH | ABU | 195[b] | 4th | |||||
| Sergio Pérez | 6 | 6 | 7 | WD | 5 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 18† | 1 | Ret | |||||||||||
| Lance Stroll | Ret | 7 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 3 | Ret | Ret | WD | Ret | 13 | 9P | Ret | 3 | 10 | ||||||||||
 Nico Hülkenberg | DNS | 7 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source:[17][18] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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