Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
Otmar Szafnauer has explained the real ‘genius’ behind Racing Point’s ‘Pink Mercedes’ controversy.
During pre-season testing ahead of the 2020 Formula 1 campaign, Racing Point’s car, the RP20, was labelled the ‘Pink Mercedes’ due to apparent similarities with Mercedes’ 2019 title-winning car, the W10.
At the time, Racing Point technical director Andrew Green stated that the RP20 did share ‘resemblances in some areas’ but rejected claims that it was a direct transfer of designs between the two teams.
In 2020, Racing Point ended the season fourth in the standings, behind the likes of McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes.
Which F1 drivers walked away too early?
Otmar Szafnauer admits Racing Point used ‘spy photographers’ to copy Mercedes
Appearing recently on an episode of the High Performance Racing podcast, former Racing Point team principal Szafnauer was asked about the ‘Pink Mercedes’ controversy.
Szafnauer, who joined Racing Point when the team was still called Force India back in 2009, was quick to deny the ‘Pink Mercedes’ nickname and went on to reveal the real ‘genius’ behind the RP20.
The 61-year-old admitted that Racing Point drafted in ‘spy photographers’ to take pictures of the Mercedes cars and then copied some of the designs from the images.
Szafnauer said: “I can’t believe it; I think it was Will Buxton who called it the ‘Pink Mercedes’. Well, it wasn’t a Mercedes at all. Yeah, it was pink, but that’s it. I’ll tell you the genius of what happened then.
“Forever, we bought our powertrain and gearbox from Mercedes, and we would run a high rake back then. Everybody ran a high rake, which was an Adrian Newey invention at Red Bull.
“Mercedes were the only ones that didn’t run a high rake, and the reason they didn’t run it is because they were winning without it. So we at Force India hired Guru Johl, who came from Red Bull, and he said we got to run the high rake.
“We went high rake. We were limited, though, as we were buying a Mercedes gearbox, and we could only run the rear so high because they designed it not to run a high rake.”
What is your favourite era of F1 regulations?
READ MORE: Otmar Szafnauer says Lance Stroll staying quiet after a ‘mistake’ cost him potential first F1 win
He continued: “So it wouldn’t go as high as everybody else. We could never get away from that until Lawrence bought the team, and we had more money at our disposal. So then, we went to a low rake like Mercedes.
“For us to depart from all that development over many, many years and to go to a low-rake car like Mercedes, it only made sense for us to take a lot of spy photography before we went into the tunnel.
“Totally legal; we took pictures of the Mercedes and copied it from the pictures.”
The RP20 went on to secure Racing Point’s first victory, which came when Sergio Perez won the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix ahead of Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll.
During the season, Racing Point were investigated after an appeal over the legality of the RP20, especially the brake ducts used on the car.
Racing Point were eventually fined €400,000 and deducted 15 points after the FIA deemed the design process of the rear brake ducts breached sporting regulations.
The 15-point deduction proved to be very costly as they were dropped from third to fourth in the world championship standings, eventually finishing behind McLaren.
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
