Christian Klien confident he will secure second spot at HRT - Formula 1 update
Christian Klien insists that he is still in the running for the second driver spot in Hispania Racing Team.
“My manager Roman Rummenigge is in permanent contact with the (HRT) team's management,” said Klien.
He has made his statement even though most observers are confident that Tonio Liuzzi and Giorgio Mondini are considered the team’s top choice for the second full season seat at the moment. On an interesting note, Tonio has revealed that HRT wants a driver
who can bring a major sponsor or money along with him.
The team revealed one of its full season drivers a couple of months ago. The team chose Narain Karthikeyan as a full season driver and it is believed that it was mainly because of the fact that he brought a major sponsor Tata with him.
It was reported near the end of 2010 that the team was going through a major financial crisis but according to Narain’s recent statement, the team is currently stable financially and they have a sufficient amount of money for the 2011 Formula 1 season.
However, Christian is confident that the team is going to consider him as a vital contender for the spot. This can also mean that since Tonio is not willing to pay for a seat at HRT, maybe Klien is keen to pay for it.
Other than that, Christian believes that he is the best choice for the team in terms of pace as well.
"All tests were done with the 2010 car, which I have raced on five weekends last season," said Klien.
However, he admitted that he will once again have to face off against Liuzzi for the seat. The two drivers had to share a single seat at Red Bull back in 2005. “But Tonio and I have remained good friends over the years. As usual we phoned after his HRT test.
No matter who gets the drive, it will not change our good and respectful relationship,” Christian said.
Nevertheless, he added that his plan B is to drive for a team as a reserve or test driver.
HRT became a part of Formula 1 last year. Three new teams were introduced to the sport in 2010 namely Lotus Racing Team, Virgin Racing Team and Hispania Racing Team. Unfortunately, none of the three new teams were able to secure a single point throughout
the 2010 Formula 1 season. The new teams are quite confident about their chances in the 2011 Formula 1 season. HRT believes that they will give a better performance this year as compared to the last year and they believe that they have a better car as compared
to their 2010 car as well.
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