Formula 1: The one team to actually match Mercedes

One Formula 1 team have actually matched Mercedes in an underrated category throughout the 2020 season, and that team is not Red Bull.

The 2020 Formula 1 season has been nothing shy of the best season of Lewis Hamilton’s career and the best season for Mercedes throughout their time in Formula 1, which has included a dominant stretch over the last seven seasons since the V6 turbo hybrid era began.

Hamilton clinched a record-tying seventh world championship with his Turkish Grand Prix victory at Intercity Istanbul Park, just one race after Mercedes secured their seventh consecutive constructor championship via Hamilton’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix win at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

So with three races remaining on the 17-race schedule, both championship battles have already been locked up.

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It is clear that on raw pace, nobody has anything for Mercedes this season, and the struggles of Ferrari have created a “best of the rest” battle for third place in the constructor standings behind Mercedes and Red Bull as opposed to a battle for fourth, which the sport had seen for the past several years in a row.

However, one team have actually managed to match Mercedes in one underrated stat category this year, and Red Bull are not the team which can make that claim despite being the clear second best team on the grid.

That team? Racing Point.

The Mercedes-powered pink cars are currently in a tight battle for third place in the constructor standings with McLaren, Renault and Ferrari, as those four teams are separated by just 24 points. Racing Point currently hold the third spot by five points over McLaren, but they are really 15 points behind where they would be if not for a 15-point penalty they were issued earlier this season.

But how have they managed to match the dominant Silver Arrows through the first 14 races of the 2020 Formula 1 season?

Through the first 14 races of the 2020 season, Hamilton’s worst result is a seventh place finish, meaning that not only he but Mercedes have not failed to score points in any race this season, despite the fact that Valtteri Bottas has finished outside of the points (top 10) on three occasions.

The same can be said for Racing Point.

Sergio Perez himself hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 this season, but he also missed the two races at Silverstone Circuit after testing positive for COVID-19. While teammate Lance Stroll missed a race himself with an illness and has failed to score in five others, he was able to pick up the pace with Perez away, finishing in ninth and sixth place in those two events.

Nico Hulkenberg, Perez’s replacement, was unable to compete in the first of the two races Perez missed due to mechanical issues, but in the second, he also scored solid points with a seventh place effort after qualifying in an impressive third.

Red Bull, which haven’t managed to score even half of the amount of points which Mercedes have scored despite sitting in second place in the constructor standings, have even failed to score in three races so far this year.

With three races remaining on the 2020 schedule, including two at different layouts of Bahrain International Circuit and the season finale at Yas Marina Circuit, will Racing Point continue to score points each time out?