Friday’s practices at Spielberg gave us a first glipse of the actual performances of the 2020 F1 cars.
In a mixed standing two pink lines shone beside two drivers’ name in the upper part of the board: the Pink Panthers are climbing their way to a top position.
With Perez’ P3 and Stroll’s P7 in the second session Racing Point confirmed the great momentum they have been carrying since Barcelona’s pre-season teasting. Also the long runs displayed a massive potential, with pace times being really close to those of Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes.

But, compared to the established top teams, Racing Point runs on a low budget. Despite their well-known efficiency in money allocation, throughout the team’s history, former Force India has had tough times in the second half of many season, due to the unavoidable lack of investments on car’s development.
This issue is skyrocketed on an upper level this year: having basically “taken huge inspiration” from last year’s Mercedes, the room of updates is very restricted. Everybody in the team is aware of that, and of the fact that today’s smile could be wiped out in a matter of weeks.

https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/15927/austrian-gp-hamilton-leads-bottas-and-perez-in-fp2

It’s therefore crucial for Racing Point to capitalize on the current strength they’ve got, putting in the bag as many championship points as possible. Ferrari’s upgrades are planned for the Hungarian GP and the other teams won’t just sit back watching. And with a wider development spectrum, and possibly a bigger budget to invest, they may cause some troubles to the Pink Panthers, that will probably have to fend the rivals off.
The opening rounds, in particular this Austrian double header, may subsequently be the most important races of the season for Racing Points, with the drivers called to act like squirrels, collecting as many nuts as they can before the long winter.

This way to FP2 ➡️#WeRaceAsOne #F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/SgEDpZoziJ

— BWT Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) July 3, 2020