F1 midfield is "real racing" - Green

The fight to finish "best of the rest" behind Mercedes and Red Bull this season is where the "real racing" is taking place in F1, according to Racing Point technical director Andrew Green.

The battle for third in the constructors' championship has been intense this year, and Green believes the "substantial" reward - in both achievement and prize money - has given teams the appetite for a real fight.

Just a single point separates Renault, McLaren and Racing Point in positions three to five with four races left to go and Green said: "You are seeing real racing in that portion of the grid. It is full-on. It is great to witness.

"That's part of the reason it is hard to get two cars in two good points-scoring positions. It is just so close. We are fighting for something that is quite substantial, you can see that in the way the drivers and teams approach it."

It's not just the racing that has been intense this year. With 17 events packed into just six months between the start of the Covid-delayed season in July and the final race in Abu Dhabi in December, the action has come thick and fast.

Asked if that had added to the challenges this year, Green added: "Some of the reliability issues will be down to the relentless nature of the season. [But] I think it is just because it is so close in the midfield.

"[In races] the top four places are taken and then there is this massive battle for P5 down. We are fighting hard and mistakes are going to be made. I think that is what you are seeing."

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