HRT will participate in Melbourne, says team owner J R Carabante – Formula 1 news
Hispania Racing Team owner, Jose Ramon Carabante, has said that their team will surely participate in the Australian Grand Prix.
Although he also said that the new car is not been tested for reliability, it is a chance that the car will not finish the race in Melbourne.
Carabante said that after a bad pre-season start, their new car will make its track debut in Melbourne.
He said, “It is certain that we will be in Australia and race there. Maybe we will not finish the first race, we'll see, but the car will develop from here with the clear aim of fighting with and beating the other two teams that started last year.”
Talking about the car, Toni Cuquerella, said, “We are relying on last year's chassis, but 95 per cent of the car is new.”
He further said that the Cosworth-powered machine with the latest specification of gearbox and hydraulics will hit the road in Melbourne. He also admired the car and said that it is much different than the last year and will do a good job in the 2011 season.
Talking about the sponsor crisis HRT is facing, team owner Carabante said that they are certainly looking to downsize the budget if not enough sponsors are roped in.
HRT were the last team to announce their drivers and also delayed their new car launch. HRT have recently completed their drivers’ line up, as they have signed Vitantonio Liuzzi who will team up with Narain Karthikeyan. They launched their car, F111, on
the fourth day of the Barcelona test.
HRT drivers, Narain and Liuzzi, are the last two drivers in the mileage list as they missed two testing sessions in Jerez and Barcelona.
Apart from all these statistics, HRT will be looking for some respect on the grid to secure their place in the game as the Formula 1 chief, Bernie Ecclestone, is talking about the downsizing the number of Formula 1 teams to 10.
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