Force India ‘legacy’ hurting SportPesa Racing Point

SportPesa Racing Point believe their struggles in 2019 are a “legacy” of the financial crisis which ended Force India.

The Force India team went into administration last year and were bought by a consortium headed by Lawrence Stroll, with the new “Racing Point” entry taking their place in the Championship.

While the financial side of the team is now very much secure, the lack of development from Force India in 2018 as the team neared its demise has created a “legacy” that continues to hamper SportPesa Racing Point in 2019.

Currently P7 in the Constructors’ Championship, the team have promised an aggressive development path throughout 2019 and another major upgrade is due soon to address the balance issues that have plagued them this season.

“The midfield is incredibly tight. It only takes very small margins to move you from one end of the field to the other,” technical director Andrew Green told Motorsport.com.

“The car has got some balance issues that we started the season with and really I think that’s a bit of a legacy of where we finished off last year and where we were as a company, position-wise.

“We’ve got a lot of changes coming ahead in the next few races and beyond, after the break as well.”

Though Green knows it’s hard to out-develop their rivals, he maintains that the team’s future is “incredibly bright”.

“We’ve got to make more progress than our competition – which is hard to do,” he explained.

“It’s very hard to do. We’ve got a lot of work to do but the atmosphere in the team is incredibly buoyant.

“The team’s future is incredibly bright. We’re looking a long way forward with the team now, that we’ve never been able to do before.

“So the fact that we’re in a bit of a tight scrap at the moment is not distracting now from things that we’re looking at much further down the road.”

Lance Stroll’s P9 in Canada was the team’s only points-finish in their last five outings, and his team-mate Sergio Perez admitted that “going home with no points hurts a lot”.

The Mexican joined Force India in 2014 and agrees with the suggestion that SportPesa Racing Point are now suffering thanks to the problems encountered by their former entity.

“In a way yes, because these days every team is so strong in the midfield. There are not bad teams anymore or teams that are too far away.”

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