Ferrari, Red Bull alliances leaving Racing Point 'isolated'

Racing Point

Ferrari, Red Bull alliances leaving Racing Point 'isolated'

Should F1 combat these relationships more?

Matthew Scott

Wednesday 20 March 2019 13:13

Non 'B' teams like Racing Point and McLaren are having to consider how to respond to the alliances being forged between the sport's biggest players and smaller outfits. Renault has already hit out at the kind of 'B team' alliances seen between Ferrari and customer teams Alfa Romeo and Haas.

Andy Green, the technical boss at Mercedes-powered Racing Point, thinks it is one reason why rivals like Alfa Romeo, Haas and Toro Rosso are increasingly competitive.

"Sauber and Haas benefit from Ferrari. Same as Toro Rosso and Red Bull," he told Auto Motor und Sport.

"It automatically brings them closer to the top and the field closer together.

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"For isolated teams like us, Renault or McLaren, it will be more difficult in the future. We have to think of new ways."

Toto Wolff hinted that the way Mercedes will react to the 'B' alliances may be to get closer to its customers.

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"We are currently thinking about how our customer teams will be able to achieve these synergies," he said.

One big positive for Racing Point was a ninth-placed finish for Lance Stroll in Australia – delighting the Canadian after a year of struggle at Williams in 2018.

"Finally I have a race car," he said. "I'm really happy with my race.

"We had a good pace and kept our rivals behind us. This is what I expected before the season."