Racing Point described their 2019 Formula 1 car as "vanilla" during pre-season testing, but that will start to change as they introduce upgrades during the early part of the season, starting this weekend in Melbourne.
CEO and team principal Otmar Szafnauer says fans should expect to see a "quite different" car compared to the RP19 that Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll tested in Barcelona, after delaying major upgrades in order to give themselves the maximum amount of development time.
"Winter testing saw us achieve our main objectives and we took away a lot of positives, but the car you will see in Melbourne is quite different from the car we ran in Barcelona," said Szafnauer.
"We took the strategic decision to give ourselves the maximum time to develop the car, to maximise our performance at the first race, and that meant holding back a little during testing.
"It’s not easy introducing new parts late in the day and we know it will be a steep learning curve, but we believe this approach will pay off in the long run."
Szafnauer expects Racing Point to be fighting for points, but highlights just how competitive the midfield is likely to be this year.
"The aim this year is to take a step forward and compete at the front of the midfield once again," he added. "We recognise this won’t be an easy task because it’s shaping up to be one of the closest midfields we have seen for a long time – with just a few tenths separating a handful of teams.
"We are realistic about the challenge ahead of us and the amount of work needed to achieve our objectives. It’s a long season and we have a solid development plan in place.
"I’d like to think we can be fighting for points in Melbourne and that’s certainly the first objective heading into the first race weekend."
