Sergio Perez's encouraging start to pre-season testing has boosted the Racing Point driver's hopes for a good start to the 2020 season in Melbourne.
Racing Point's new RP20 was the focus of most teams' attention on the opening day of running in Barcelona, with everyone noting the car's resemblance with last year's Mercedes W11, a fact not denied by the Silverstone squad's tech boss Andy Green.
Racing Point's 2020 design has made good use of the team's technical relationship with engine supplier Mercedes, with Green exploiting several fundamental components and an aero approach transferred from last years' Silver Arrow.
Perez clocked in fastest mid-day on Thursday and the Mexican is slowly but surely raising his expectations in light of the initial performance of his "pink Mercedes".
"I would hope it would perform like their car [Mercedes] but I think it's still very early days," said Perez.
"I think we have so many things to go through. A lot of working [to do], and all the team is working flat out.
"But what is really good about this season is to finally have a car that is going to be very, very close to what we have in Melbourne.
"So that's a very positive thing you know. We can focus and learn so much compared to other seasons, where we were always late with our car.
"I think today we are on the right on the right track and definitely the car has potential. So, hopefully we can start strong."
Racing Point's approach of copying so closely another car's concept is a departure from its usual design process. But Perez is confident in the RP20's potential.
"Obviously there are plenty of things that we got to work on, you know," he said. "I think we have a good base, I think it's something that has good potential.
"But then we've got to work very hard in the coming days to to make sure that we arrive in Melbourne as well prepared as possible."
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Honda entered Formula 1’s new era believing it had built the foundations of a competitive…
Charles Leclerc’s early verdict on Madrid’s brand-new Madring suggests the rest of the F1 grid…
Somewhere in the Czech Republic last weekend, while the F1 paddock was busy elsewhere doing…
Jenson Button took the first win of his Formula 1 career on this day in…
George Russell’s battle against Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes is already a daunting challenge on pure…
Williams’ 2026 season was supposed to be the next step in a carefully plotted rebuild.…