Red Bull's Christian Horner says Sergio Perez's charge from the back of the field in the Styrian Grand Prix was a confirmation signal to other teams that everyone should very much fear Racing Point's pace this year.
Perez struggled in Saturday's dismal wet conditions, qualifying just P17, a lowly position that compelled the Mexican to pull out the stops on race day and power through the field.
Perez's spirited drive led the Racing Point charger to challenge Alex Albon for fourth before a contact between the pair damaged the Mexican's front wing and hindered his speed.
But the demonstration confirmed that Racing Point's 'pink Mercedes' is a force to be reckoned with, not only by F1's top midfield contenders but also by the front-running outfits.
"I think everybody would be worried by the Racing Point", quipped Horner when asked if the RP20's pace was a cause for worry for Red Bull.
"I mean, Perez was quicker than the Mercedes at that point in the race. Bearing in mind that Bottas was on tyres that were within one lap of age to the Racing Point, Perez was three or four tenths quicker. So it was very impressive pace that they showed.
"I think Alex drove incredibly well to keep them behind. But also if you look at Alex’s pace on that tyre versus Bottas, again there was encouragement that we can take from that in a car that wasn’t carrying any damage.
©RacingPoint
One team clearly worried by Racing Point's level of performance is Renault, who protested the Silverstone-based team's car after Sunday's race, denouncing its similarity with Mercedes' 2019 W10 Silver Arrow.
As everyone awaits the outcome in the coming weeks of the FIA's investigation into the RP20, and especially its brake ducts which were singled out in Renault's protest, Racing Point's rivals will need to contend with the controversial design's speed.
"It's just a fact that this one year old Mercedes is simply a quick car, which is operated by a great team," commented McLaren F1 boss Andreas Seidl, quoted by Motorsport.com.
"We know that, with the development we did over winter, we did make the step to get to last year's Mercedes. So if they extract more from this car it is difficult for us to compete.
"Therefore it's very important for us now to simply make sure we keep developing our car, keep improving it and at the same time to maximise opportunities, which we did also in the first races with very good drivers and I think a lot of right decisions in terms of strategies."
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
