Defeated but not destroyed - HRT hopeful for a better season ahead
Although the 2010 season was a tough test for all the three rookie teams namely Lotus, Virgin and HRT, yet the season was poorest for the Hungarian squad. With hardly any pre-season preparation, the team landed on the track for the first race of the season,
the Bahrain Grand Prix 2010.
The Spanish-backed Hispania crew was considered by many of the race analysts as the most underprepared teams on the 2010 track. There were even speculations that the team might not be able to complete the season and will soon collapse owing to the immense
pressure and stress faced by the management since the very beginning of the season.
However, not only the team endured all kinds of pressures keeping its existence intact but also proved that it has potential, and in the years to come it can emerge as a strong team. Just like many other teams in their debut season, HRT also met intense
financial problems and faced a lack of developmental work in their car. Still, as the season came to an end the team management was quite optimistic, looking forward for better season ahead.
Well, the optimism of the team is not sufficient as all the problems embraced by it this year remain very much unresolved and the team is entering 2011 season without a solid strategy. However, the spirit and high hopes of the team are praise worthy.
Only a decade back similar teams with thin financial books and huge problems were seen on the grid. These came from nowhere, had very uncompetitive cars, saw constant changes in the driver’s line up and after struggling for a few years on the grid, they
disappeared. However, the recent few years have seen a tremendous increase in the cost of getting anywhere close to the F1 grid that such teams even stopped thinking of entering the series anymore.
Revolutionarily, the last season saw some ‘poor’ teams entering the grid. At the start of the year, FIA opened the doors for small teams that could not afford high budgets promising to provide them with financial relief in form of reward. This saw three
new teams enter the grid although none had been able to earn even a single point all through the year.
HRT is one of these low budgeted teams. It was founded by the ex-driver Adrian Campos, while the command of the team was later taken by Jose Ramon Carabante, who is also the major investor of the outfit. The team principal, Colin Kolles was formerly a part
of Force India, the Indian team owned by Dr. Vijay Mallya.
As the team started off, Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok were its initial drivers, however, the Indian driver, Chandhok was not been seen on the track after the British Grand Prix as Sakon Yamamoto took his place in the team. Moreover, the Austrian driver
Christian Klien was also seen with the team in three races, the Singapore, Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The team, at certain events all through the season has been seen far stronger than its competitor rookie teams. Despite of having no pre-season testing, it has been the first of the new teams to see both its car finish, only at the third round of the season,
the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Now, as the season has come to an end, although the team stands without having bagged even a single point, yet, the management hopes seeing a far better season ahead. The team principal, Colin Kolles believes that the tough trial period is over and the next
year is going to be a far smoother one.
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