Hispania Racing Saturday Report

GP Australia

“We created a miracle again, but it wasn’t enough; we’ll be back in Malaysia stronger than ever”

14:00-15:00 FORMULA 1 PRACTICE SESSION 3
Narain Karthikeyan F111-03 #22 23rd (5 laps) 1:41.554
Vitantonio Liuzzi F111-02 #23 24th (1 lap)

17:00-18:00 FORMULA 1 QUALIFYING SESSION
Narain Karthikeyan F111-03 #22 24th (11 laps) 1:34.293
Vitantonio Liuzzi F111-02 #23 23rd (11 laps) 1:32.978

Colin Kolles, Hispania Racing Team Principal:

“In the end it just couldn’t be, still I’m incredibly proud of my whole team. Our drivers produced the maximum in the least amount of time possible. We managed to get both cars ready in time for qualifying and proved that the car is capable of running a lot quicker than today. The circumstances in which we arrived were not as desired. We created a miracle again, but it wasn’t enough. We’ll be back stronger than ever in Malaysia. There we will have more time to test the car and show where the F111 really belongs”.

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Race driver:

“Everybody did an amazing job. We have to be proud because everyone worked well and I think we have to be positive for the future. We are upset because we are not in the 107% but we are looking forward to Malaysia where we will be up to speed. We have to be happy with what we´ve done, the lap time was more than what we expected and we believe that our car will be much better in the future. It is true that everything was a little bit critical because we ended up not qualifying, but we just have to be proud of the job done by the team”.

“We faced a lot of difficulties getting here and the effort put in by the whole team this week has been huge, but the rules are the rules. Now we’re focused on the next race. I am positive and am sure that everything will go well in Malaysia”.

Narain Karthikeyan, Race driver:

“I’ve only done two timed laps with the new car before qualifying so, given the circumstances, it was quite an achievement. Everyone has done a great job and put in a lot of hard work, it’s a shame not to have had one more day. With an extra 24 hours we would have been in a better position. We just need to do some more running, so I think that come Malaysia we will be better prepared. Right now we need to stay positive”.