Perez foresees 'breaking all lap records' when racing resumes

©RacingPoint

40

Racing Point's Sergio Perez expects to be crushing lap records when the 2020 F1 season gets underway such is the amazing speed of this year's cars.

Valtteri Bottas' fastest lap at the Circuit de Catalunya during pre-season testing was just a few tenths shy of his 2019 Spanish Grand Prix pole time, a performance that pointed to significant gains moving forward.

Alas, the season is at a standstill, but when the action resumes, hopefully sooner rather than later, Perez is confident that all records will be shattered.

Abiteboul: Racing Point 'pink Mercedes' like forged artwork

"We are driving the fastest cars in the history of Formula 1. You cannot imagine the speeds that we do in fast corners," Perez told the official Formula 1 website from his Mexican lockdown home in Punta Mita.

"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."

©RacingPoint

While the lap times recorded in Barcelona in February augur well for a ramp up of F1's performance, they also indicated that Racing Point definitely has the edge over its mid-field rivals thanks to its very efficient albeit controversial RP20, a design inspired by Mercedes' 2019 championship-winning W10.

"The other day, I had a call with Otmar [Szafnauer, Racing Point team boss] and also with Tom [McCullough], 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,” he added.

“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."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.