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PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:32 pm
by Jenson's Understeer
Moving swiftly through the field, we're now up to the team who finished 7th in the 2019 F1 WCC, Racing Point. And they are another team who carry their 2019 driver line-up over to 2020, which always makes things a little more interesting.

As with Williams and Alfa, the 2019 result heavily favoured one driver over the other. Sergio Perez enjoyed great success in the TMW votes against Lance Stroll, taking 18 of the 21 TMW victories and securing over two-thirds of the vote. He ended the season with ten successive TMW wins, while six of Stroll's losses saw him fail to pick up a single vote. All of which was foretold by the pre-season prediction in which 87% of us felt Perez would win the TMW vote.

So... what will be different in 2020? Well for a start, Stroll has an extra season of experience, which can only be a good thing against the fourth most experienced driver on the grid. The team themselves are in a better place than they were this time 12 months ago, having had a year free from financial headaches, so expectations will be higher that results will be stronger across the season. For Stroll it will also mean he has had a chance to influence the car design, something which may result in a better season for him. However, at the end of the day it was very clear where he was lacking: qualifying. According to Racefans' statistics, Perez outqualified Stroll on 18 occasions, with only the Williams pair exiting quali in Q1 more than the 14 times Stroll did. He was almost constantly starting behind his teammate and having to try and recover places. If he is to enjoy a better set of results in 2020 then that is clearly the biggest issue he needs to fix, and perhaps a more competitive Racing Point car will assist him in that sense.

For Perez, it seems like he again doesn't stand to gain much this year. Beating Stroll is the expectation, especially given the gulf between them in 2019, and the closer Lance is to him, the more his reputation will suffer. From Perez's comments about his future in F1 you do wonder if he already has half an eye on 2021, which seems like it will be a make-or-break year for him. Could that be to his detriment in 2020? Or does the phrase "the cream rises to the top" ring true here, with Perez expected to repeat his exploits of last year and again comfortably handle his young Canadian teammate?

2019 Result
Perez 71% - 29% Stroll (18-3)
87% of votes pre-season votes correctly predicted Perez would triumph

2020 Prediction Results
Alfa Romeo: Kimi Raikkonen 86% - 14% Antonio Giovinazzi
Haas: Kevin Magnussen 71% - 29% Romain Grosjean
Williams: George Russell 95% - 5% Nicholas Latifi

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:41 pm
by JN23
Stroll might be the worst qualifier on the grid. His race pace is ok and has some good drives from time to time (Canada 2019). Perez is a very good midfield driver but slightly below top level.

Perez takes this fairly easily.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:46 pm
by Mort Canard
Probably the most mismatched pairing on the grid after Russell/Kubica in 2019. I see no reason why it should not take the top spot in that category this year.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 2:02 pm
by Jenson's Understeer
I'm not going to buck the trend - Perez to take this. I don't think it will be as dominant as 2019, maybe 14/15 TMW wins for Perez, but I do expect it to be comfortable all the same.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 2:11 pm
by pokerman
Not much to say here Perez is a quality act whereas Stroll is not, Stroll may improve given it will be his second year with the team but I suspect after 3 years in F1 he's already close to maxed out, easy win for Perez.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 2:24 pm
by mikeyg123
Stroll will probably be slightly closer. I have a feeling the Racing Point might be a decent car this year which is probably bad news for Stroll as It will allow Perez's talent to bag the bulk of the points.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 8:11 pm
by Exediron
I'm going with the consensus: Stroll might be a bit closer, but he's still gonna lose heavily. No way I can see Stroll actually winning against Perez.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 10:53 pm
by pokerman
It looks like Lawrence has submitted a vote. :)

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 11:27 pm
by Mort Canard
pokerman wrote:It looks like Lawrence has submitted a vote. :)
:thumbup: :lol:

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 11:52 pm
by Paolo_Lasardi
Perez.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:24 am
by Exediron
pokerman wrote:It looks like Lawrence has submitted a vote. :)
With these polls, if the lone vote against the consensus is unwilling to come forward and explain I always wonder if it was just a troll...

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:58 am
by BMWSauber84
Once Racing Point got the equipment to show what Perez could do, the second half of last season was an enormous trouncing. Perez winning this inter team battle is probably the biggest certainty in F1 2020.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:22 pm
by pokerman
BMWSauber84 wrote:Once Racing Point got the equipment to show what Perez could do, the second half of last season was an enormous trouncing. Perez winning this inter team battle is probably the biggest certainty in F1 2020.
Well it was basically once the car was able to score points.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 2:36 pm
by UnlikeUday
Last year, after the summer break, when RP started to get better, it was Checo only (obviously) who's performances got better & more consistent. Wonder if the car's new parts were developed from Checo's feedback which aided him the most. Since the car remains the same (atleast the base), RP could be a much stronger contender this year as last year they were on the backfoot.

What RP car needs is a bit more downforce. If the car does get more downforce, we can expect Checoto get even stronger. No chance for Lance to even come close. And if this happens this year till the end, I bet Lawrence will have to take a decision because RP can't come 4th or 5th in WCC because of 1 driver only.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 6:54 pm
by BMWSauber84
pokerman wrote:
BMWSauber84 wrote:Once Racing Point got the equipment to show what Perez could do, the second half of last season was an enormous trouncing. Perez winning this inter team battle is probably the biggest certainty in F1 2020.
Well it was basically once the car was able to score points.
Yes but Perez was also stronger than Stroll in the first half of the season. But it simply didn't manifest into points because as you say, the car wasn't consistently capable, and Stroll benefited from the bonkers Germany race.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 6:58 pm
by BMWSauber84
In fact had it stayed dry in Germany, Stroll would have picked up 9 points from 20 races. That would have placed him above only Grosjean and the Williams in the standings.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 7:10 pm
by mikeyg123
BMWSauber84 wrote:In fact had it stayed dry in Germany, Stroll would have picked up 9 points from 20 races. That would have placed him above only Grosjean and the Williams in the standings.
Had there not been a late safety car in Germany he would have only picked up 9 points. He got lucky that the safety car brought him back into the race right at the moment where somebody with nothing to lose could take a punt on tyres. He spent most of the afternoon at the back.

Re: PF1 TMW 2020 Predictions: Racing Point

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 2:11 pm
by pokerman
BMWSauber84 wrote:
pokerman wrote:
BMWSauber84 wrote:Once Racing Point got the equipment to show what Perez could do, the second half of last season was an enormous trouncing. Perez winning this inter team battle is probably the biggest certainty in F1 2020.
Well it was basically once the car was able to score points.
Yes but Perez was also stronger than Stroll in the first half of the season. But it simply didn't manifest into points because as you say, the car wasn't consistently capable, and Stroll benefited from the bonkers Germany race.
Yeah it's no different to how Kubica outscored Russell, same race, if the car can't score points then there's more chance of the inferior driver getting lucky and scoring more points.