Racing Point F1 Expand their Factory Base

The newly christened, Racing Point F1 team have elected to expand their Silverstone base by buying up property to build their new factory.

Recently, the team acquired around 27 acres of farmland in Silverstone. This land surrounds the current site which sits at three acres. The team has been situated there since 1991 back when it was still known as Jordan Grand Prix.

Following planning permission, construction on the site will commence. According to the plans, the entrance of the factory will be facing Dadford Road that leads to the Silverstone Circuit’s main gate.

“It’s just next door,” said Racing Point F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer. “We don’t have planning permission yet, but we hope that’s forthcoming.”

“We’re working on the plans now, to apply. There’s a six months process to go through all the necessary steps, and we’re probably three to four months into that process before we apply for planning. Once we have permission, then we’ll start.”

“I think it will take about two or two and a half years, probably two years from now, for us to finish the new factory, and then we’re going to move in.”

“We have three acres of land, and we bought the 27 acres that go around it. So now we have 30 acres.”

One of Racing Point’s key tasks is to organise the entire team on one site. This is because the aerodynamics department is based in Brackley, seven miles away.

However, there is a snag, the plan for a new base coincides with F1’s plans to introduce cost caps after 2021. As a result, it will not easy to specify the type of facility that Racing Point F1 will need.

Szafnauer continued, “We’ve got to right-size it, but I don’t know what that is. Unless you know the regulations, it’s hard to know.”

“How do we know how big to make the factory, how little to make it, what to include, what not to include?”

“What we do know is that the building we’re in, with the people we have, is too small. That we know for sure. What we don’t know is do we need a new wind tunnel?, for example.

“So we bought enough land so that we can expand or contract as needed, based on the regulations.”

The team heads into the new season with drivers, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll.