After all the issues with lack of money in 2018 when the team were still
Force India, it was clear that the
2019 challenger would not be doing its usual punching above their weight. But the team steadily improved as the season went on, and after the summer break
Perez finished in the points at all bar the
Singapore GP where his car retired with an oil leak, with many of them from lowly starting positions.
Stroll struggled all season to get out of Q1, but had a few highlights, such as finishing in the points in
Canada. His best finish was at the chaotic
German GP, where he was so far behind, he was able to pit at the right time and propel himself to the front of the grid and in with a shot at the podium. In the end, he finished a credible fourth.
The team did well to secure a seventh placed finish in the Constructors' Championship, not far behind
Toro Rosso and
Renault, but comfortably ahead of
Alfa Romeo. Considering their issues at the end of last year, that's a positive improvement, and I suspect they will be looking to be in the mix at the front of the midfield in 2020.
Spark released their version of the Racing Point based on the
Chinese GP. The car has a lot more blue in deference to SportPesa, and the livery just looks a bit too messy for me. I'm really not keen on the darker pink on the inside of the rear wing endplates.
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| Spark S6086 |
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| Spark S6085 |
Anyway, back on track and onto the model itself and it's a solid model again from Spark. Proportionally everything looks good, the detail looks strong as always, and from the side, it looks fantastic to me.
Force India/Racing Point have run a unique nose for a number of years now, and the continue to have those two slotted channels nicely integrated into their front wing supports. There's nice detail on the livery on the front wing. The bargeboards have a number of slots along the top, nicely modelled here and the winglet arrangements at the front of the sidepods is also accurate and nicely modelled.
After testing, they introduced large slots on along the edge of the floor and you can just about see that on the model from this angle. If i was really nitpicky I think they left a bit too much pink along the top of the engine cover, and the blue on the rear wing endplates to wrap around the side a little more.
Again, if I was being picky, the airbox needs a little more carbon colour around the front, if you see it from the front, there's only a very tiny circle of pink visible.
All in all, I'm pretty impressed with this offering from Spark. I think if perhaps Minichamps did this model (I've not checked if they will yet) I think they might offer a better finish on the paint and decals, but in terms of the shape, I think it's a top quality model.
Score: 8/10
