Racing Point explains reasoning behind 'pink Mercedes': "There are no egos here"

During the winter tests it soon became clear that the car of Racing Point looked suspiciously similar to the car of Mercedes a year earlier. Soon the nicknames of the pink car flew around everyone's ears, like the 'pink Mercedes'. Technical director of Racing Point Andrew Green explains why they opted for a Mercedes design, and what it takes to make such a choice.

Is it a smart move or does it go against the ideals of Formula 1? Everyone had an opinion about it. Some thought it was a good move from a budgetary point of view because you buy a proven good car relatively cheaply. Others thought it goes against the DNA of Formula 1, because the development and design of a car has to be done by every team. Even though there are enough customer teams that drive with parts of the richer teams.

No syndrome at Racing Point

Andrew Greenm technical director at Racing Point, discusses the issue with Autosport. The director is of the opinion that their drastic change in design actually speaks of guts and daring. Abandoning all the knowledge the team has gained in recent years and letting go of their own concept by taking over the concept from Mercedes is proof that there are no 'egos' within the management of Racing Point.

"There are no egos involved in making these kinds of decisions. It's a big plus in our organisation and I think that's why a lot of teams can't do this because there are too many alpha males. Other teams have the 'this hasn't been invented here' syndrome. They're too proud not to develop it themselves."

Honesty

Green is very pleased with the way the team works. The conversations go in all honesty and everyone wants the best for the team, in the opinion of the technical director. "We were honest with each other and saw that Mercedes was doing better than us. Then we started asking questions. What are they doing? What are they doing right? Then we chose this direction and for the time being we drove around in fourth place during the winter tests", Green said.

What the change of direction will bring should become clear as soon as they are allowed to drive again. Possibly in July.