Turkish GP HRT Qualifying Report

Colin Kolles: "We know we can fight for a good position"

Istanbul, 7th May, 2011 Istanbul Park

Narain Karthikeyan, Hispania Racing Team, HRT

Photo by: xpb.cc

11.00-12.30 FORMULA 1 PRACTICE SESSION 3
Narain Karthikeyan F111-03 #22 24th (15 laps) 1:32.009
Vitantonio Liuzzi F111-02 #23 23rd (19 laps) 1:31.375
Maximum temperature: Air 16ºC, Track 32ºC - Sunny

14.00-15.00 FORMULA 1 QUALIFYING SESSION
Narain Karthikeyan F111-03 #22 23rd (8 laps) 1:31.564
Vitantonio Liuzzi F111-02 #23 21st (7 laps) 1:30.692
Maximum temperature: Air 18ºC, Track 37°C- Sunny

Colin Kolles, Hispania Racing Team Principal:

“Qualifying was not bad today, as predicted yesterday we made a step forward. We were ahead of one Virgin car and very close to the other one, it would’ve been possible for Tonio to be ahead but nevertheless we’re very happy to be close to our main competitors and also to the top, being 3.6 seconds off the quickest time in Q1 is very positive. Tomorrow we’re hoping for a nice race in which we can fight with others to finish in a good position”.

Narain Karthikeyan, Driver #22:

“I should’ve done better today considering that my team mate did quite a good lap. My first set of tyres was alright but with the second set I couldn’t feel any grip, the car was sliding all over the place so we must try and find out what went wrong. It’s my third race back in Formula 1 and Turkey is not an easy track, there are a lot of bumps and it’s quite technical. So the longer I spend in the car the more comfortable I will get. The car is improving a lot, reliability is good so once again my aim for tomorrow is to try and finish the race”.

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Driver #23:

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Hispania Racing Team, HRT

Photo by: xpb.cc

“We were motivated coming into this weekend with the upgrades and we’re pushing for more in the future. We’re all pushing every race and every hour back in the factory so this result is important as it is a reward for that work and confirms that the gap is closing with the rest. We’re nearly ahead of both Virgins which is our aim, they’re pushing as well so it won’t be easy. But we’re closing the gap with the leaders, which is very important for us.”

“I struggled a bit at the beginning with the first set of tyres but the second set had a really good performance, the car reacted very well. We had a few problems in the morning, we were a bit worried we didn’t have the right balance for qualifying but in the end it all went well. 21st position is a great result for tomorrow where we will try to finish ahead of both Virgins which is our target. It is important to keep in this line”.

Source: HRT