Racing Point boss Otmar Szafnauer has warned Formula 1 success won’t happen quickly despite the investment by Lawrence Stroll.
The Canadian billionaire proved the saviour of the Silverstone-based outfit after driver Sergio Perez triggered an administration process amid the financial problems for former owner Vijay Mallya in 2018.
Since then, Stroll has already pumped much-needed funds helping the team back to its feet, including a plan to upgrade the factory.
And with new regulations from 2021, including a budget cap, Racing Point senses an opportunity to rekindle the days of Jordan, who won four races, the last coming at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.
“I always say that sane people with the same information come to the same conclusion,” Szafnauer commented to Motorsport.
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“In F1, everything takes time. It took Mercedes three years to win the race after buying Brawn – although they got the team that had just won the championship.
“Red Bull bought Jaguar, and how long did it take them to win? Five years!
“However, you are right. Lawrence is ambitious, but he must understand nothing happens overnight.”
Also, despite Stroll’s deep pockets, the Racing Point CEO dismissed suggestions that money was no longer an obstacle.
“People often say, ‘Well, now you have all the money in the world’ but still, it’s not about money. Nothing can be done without money, but money also takes time,” he argued.
“Red Bull had all the money in the world after [Dietrich] Mateschitz said ‘Do what you want.’ and Mercedes had all the money in the world.
“We do not have all the money in the world, but now we have enough of it so that we can afford such developments that we could not have before.
“When you design a machine, but you cannot produce parts, it is deadly. That is what we have now.
“If there is someone we want to hire, then we can take and hire them, whereas we could not before.
“Our budget is probably the smallest [in F1], but earlier we had to survive. Now everything is different.
“It’s great to be able to plan and install on the machine the developments that are available to you.”
