Australian GP: HRT preview

HRT F1 Team confident of building on F1 debut in Australia

Murcia (Spain), 19 March 2010 - HRT F1 team, Hispania Racing team, the newest F1 team in the paddock, acquired by Jose Ramon Carabante in February and led by team principal Dr Colin Kolles is ready for its second Formula One weekend after making its debut in Bahrain.

Unlike the other teams, HRT F1 Team joins the F1 paddock without having completed any pre-season testing. The team was forced to shakedown and run its car for the first time ever at the Bahrain Grand Prix after winning a fight against time to make it to the first round of the season as a fully functional team.

The team worked through the usual challenges any F1 outfit faces when running its new car for the first time, and was able start the race with both cars. The team's overall ambitions remain high, but realistic that it will take time to catch up for its lost ground. Moving onto the next rounds of its debut season, HRT F1 Team's goal is to improve steadily and make it to the chequered flag with at least one car.

Team Principal Dr Colin Kolles comments, "We have worked extremely hard since the Bahrain season opener. We have worked long hours and successfully with Bridgestone, Cosworth and Xtrack learned from our first laps with the car and found a good basis from which to start preparation for our second Grand Prix in Australia in a few days. We have successfully repaired the damage sustained by Karun Chandhok's car and focused on building our car's reliability. Our goal is to improve steadily and the next step is to work towards our first race finish. I am confident we will achieve this goal very soon and having seen how we came together as a team in Bahrain I can see just how much potential and commitment we have."

Karun Chandhok comments, "I am really looking forward to my second F1 race this weekend. I have never driven in Melbourne, but I am a very quick learner. I was able to work on a team's simulator before the Grand Prix so that will help my familiarisation a little bit! Our next step with the team's engineers is to make the car reliable for the race. The secret of good racing preparation is to complete as many laps as possible on Friday to see where we are with the car. Finishing the race would be a fantastic achievement we will strive for."

Bruno Senna adds, "We need to continue building on what we achieved in Bahrain. We put two cars together and ran successfully in Bahrain. Now we must continue to work as a team. I came early to Australia early to acclimatise to the time difference. I love Australia more and more, as I spend more time here! I have already driven on the Melbourne track, back in 2006. I did the F3 support race for F1 back then and had a fairly successful weekend. I won! Now, I must work with the team to continue learning about the car. I have enjoyed working long hours with the team so far and I will be giving my all as I really want to progress and guarantee them good results."

-source: hrt