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Why Racing Point’s 'real' pace should scare Red Bull and Ferrari

Formula 1 is finally back, but following the close of the opening pair of free practice sessions, it seems business as usual at the front with Mercedes in dominant form. But in the battle for podium placings, Red Bull and Ferrari seem to have a new playmate

Alex Kalinauckas Jul 3, 2020, 3:24 PM

Finally, Formula 1 is back. After a seven-month wait thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the latest racing chapter in the championship's history is underway. The opening practice sessions for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix are in the books.

Little had changed on the driver line-up front over the extended off-season, with just Nicholas Latifi replacing Robert Kubica at Williams and Esteban Ocon taking Nico Hulkenberg's Renault seat the only differences. And based on the headline results of the first two of four 2020 Friday practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring, little has changed in the form at the front of the grid. Mercedes is still the benchmark, and by some margin.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.