HRT Race Report

Chinese GP

Hispania Racing: goal achieved in Shanghai

Shanghai, 17th of April 2011Shanghai International Circuit

Colin Kolles, Hispania Racing Team Principal:

Both HRT drivers finished the race in China

Photo by: xpb.cc

“We reached our target, which was to finish the race. We planned a one stop strategy for today. Narain went for this strategy but Tonio had a drive-through penalty for a jump start and lost some positions so we switched to a two stop strategy with him. Tonio’s times were impressive at the end, he was doing similar times to the middle of the field which is positive”.

“All in all, we had a normal weekend where we did a lot of miles and the improvement of the car is visible. We had no technical issues and both drivers did a good race so we’re happy with the weekend. The aerodynamic and mechanical upgrades for Turkey will put us closer to the field.”

Narain Karthikeyan, Driver #22:

“We met our main objective today which was none other than to finish the race. I don’t think the Virgin’s are that far ahead of us which is good for future races. After having completed our target today we now have to improve the car and try and attack from Turkey onwards. With the new updates and parts we will be a lot more competitive for the next race. Nothing is easy in Formula 1 but we can definitely compete with our closest rivals soon.”

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Driver #23:

Liuzzi jumped the start at the Chinese GP

Photo by: xpb.cc

“We have performed a lot better than in Malaysia and have closed the gap on Virgin, our closest rival. Unfortunately I had a drive-through penalty because of a problem at the start where I dropped the clutch too early and moved before the green light. But overall I’m happy because we achieved our target which was to reach the checkered flag. Now we have to look forward to Turkey because our race pace has improved from Malaysia and will be even better in Turkey with the updates.”

“Our strategy was to do a single stop but it turned out to be too difficult on the tyres so I asked to come in. The second stop helped us to achieve better lap times. We still need to improve. But still we were only 17 seconds off Virgin and without the drive-through penalty it could’ve been a close race.”

Weather: Sunny – air temperature 23°C, track 32°C
Race: 56 laps
Track distance: 5.451km