RP20 best car Stroll has driven ‘by long way’

Jamie Woodhouse
Lance Stroll PA

Lance Stroll said Racing Point’s RP20 is the best car he has ever driven around the Red Bull Ring “by a long way”.

The ‘pink Mercedes‘ was on fine form during the first day of action for the 2020 season, with Sergio Perez ending FP2 in P3, with Stroll back in P7.

And the Canadian was delighted with his new challenger, saying it was the best he had driven around the Red Bull Ring “by a long way”.

Asked by Sky F1 if it was the best car he had taken around the circuit, he said: “Yeah, for sure, by a long way.

“I don’t think we’ve had a Friday this strong in a while, so it’s good to see the car is looking competitive.

“It feels as good as it gets being a racing driver, you’re always looking for that car that gives you confidence.

“This one is definitely much better than what we had last year.

“We got a taste for it in Barcelona, but it’s good to be here and see relative to the others where we are.

“It’s only Friday, but some good early signs.”

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Perez echoed his team-mate and is full of optimism.

“It was a good day, I think definitely we’ve shown that the car has a great potential and I think the people back home in the factory have done a tremendous job,” he said.

“I’m really excited for the year to start, I think we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but thing are looking good, hopefully tomorrow we are still there when everyone puts it together, then we see where everyone is.

“The margins are very small with the Ferraris and the Red Bulls, Renault, all really close, so we will see where we really are.”

Perez thinks the pace will only improve throughout the race weekend thanks to track evolution.

“The track increase will be a big thing through the weekend, so I look forward to the race.

“I think it will be very interesting with the increasing track temperature, I haven’t driven in those conditions so it will be very interesting.”

The Mexican racer also paid tribute to his trainer, saying he was shocked at how good he felt after his first session back in an F1 car.

“I’m extremely surprised to see how good I felt today,” he admitted.

“I have done a lot of training, so I need to congratulate my trainer because it just felt like I had been driving forever.

“I don’t know tomorrow if I’m going to wake up without the neck, but I’m extremely surprised how well I felt.”

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