Racing Point acquired the assets of the former Force India operation in August 2018 and raced the remainder of that season under the Racing Point Force India name. The RP19 represented the new team's first effort as a fully independent constructor, retaining the Mercedes power unit arrangement and substantial technical continuity with the preceding Force India machinery. The car's technical direction was led by Technical Director Andrew Green, with Simon Phillips as Aerodynamic Director and Akio Haga and Ian Hall as Chief Designers.
The RP19 was built around a carbon composite monocoque with Zylon anti-intrusion panels. It was powered by the Mercedes M10 EQ Power+ 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 hybrid unit, operating to a maximum of 15,000 RPM. The car's minimum weight was 743 kg. The engine produced approximately 740 horsepower from the combustion unit, supplemented by the hybrid electric motor system running on Petronas fuels. Suspension used aluminium uprights with carbon fibre wishbones, trackrod, and pushrod, with inboard torsion springs front and rear. Tyres were supplied by Pirelli.
A distinctive inherited feature was the narrow "nostril" nosecone design that had been part of the car's lineage since the Force India VJM08B in mid-2015. That nose was replaced with a more conventional wider design ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, where the team reported an aerodynamic improvement.
The RP19 carried a white, pink, and purple livery. The title sponsor was SportPesa, an online gambling company whose brand was replaced in video game representations by "SpScore.com" due to restrictions on gambling advertising in gaming contexts. BWT remained among the team's principal sponsors, providing the distinctive pink colouring that had characterised the preceding Force India cars.
At the Monaco Grand Prix, the team placed Niki Lauda's helmet on the halo device of the car as a tribute following his death earlier that month.
The RP19 was driven by Sergio Pérez, carrying number 11, and Lance Stroll, carrying number 18. The team scored no wins, podiums, poles, or fastest laps across the 21-race season.
Pérez was the team's primary points scorer. His best individual results were sixth-place finishes at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix. After going scoreless between Spain and Hungary, he recovered strongly and scored points in each of the final six races of the season, ending with 52 points.
Stroll's best result came at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, a rain-affected race whose chaotic conditions elevated him to fourth at the finish line — the team's best result of the year. The combined points total of 73 placed Racing Point seventh in the World Constructors' Championship.
The RP19 itself was not the subject of regulatory scrutiny, but its development trajectory proved consequential. The RP20, Racing Point's 2020 car, was designed to replicate as closely as possible the aerodynamic philosophy of the 2019 Mercedes W10, including brake duct components whose CAD models had been legitimately shared by Mercedes while those parts were still classified as non-listed parts in 2019. When brake ducts became listed parts for 2020, Renault protested their use on the RP20. The stewards upheld the protest regarding the rear brake ducts and fined Racing Point €400,000, deducting 15 constructors' points from the 2020 championship. The episode drew attention back to the 2019 RP19 as the car within which the controversial design process had begun.
The RP19 was significant primarily as the vehicle through which a new entity established itself in Formula One following the insolvency and court-administered sale of Force India. Its season confirmed that the core of what had been a competitive midfield operation — workforce, technical staff, factory, and engine supply — had survived intact under new ownership and could remain competitive in the lower midfield of the grid.
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