Hispania in trouble again
Hispania have endured a torrid debut in the world of Formula One racing, and it now looks like this may be a maiden season for the Spanish underdogs.
The team has been wracked with debt problems from the word go. They were only saved from extinction before the start of the 2010 campaign at the last minute by Spanish businessman José Ramón Carabante.
Having begun as Campos Meta, Carabante’s first job was to rebrand the side Hispania Racing. They got a car together, secured Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna as drivers and entered the season with absolutely no testing whatsoever.
This recipe for certain Formula One success was completed the weekend of the Bahrain GP. However F1 head honcho Bernie Ecclestone poured scorn on the Spanish dreamers by saying that he didn’t think that they would be able to make the starting grid, despite their back-from-the-dead return.
The plucky Hispania team didn’t relent, working tirelessly to make race day. Hopes were not even dashed by the fact they failed to qualify on the grid and had to start from the pits. As the two majestic jet-coloured cars peeled away in the Persian Gulf, they carried the spirit of every underdog in the world, a testament of what can be achieved when facing adversity. Before Chandhok immediately crashed out on the second lap and Bruno Senna's engine exploded on the 18th.
Since then they have endured a torrid time with some truly miserable performances. Their best finish was Chandhok’s 14th-place finish in Australia while Senna has failed to finish five of the last eight grand prixs.
Things went from bad to worse as Hispania split from designer Dallara due to financial accusations and massive doubts over the quality of chassis that they were being supplied with. On top of that test driver Sakon Yamamoto who brings a bigger financial clout to the table through sponsorship, has been given races ahead of Chanduk and Senna as a money-making scheme.
Senna said of the future of the team: "The financial difficulties hinder the development of the car.
"We are able to keep the team running through the end of the year. But we cannot be like Red Bull, which always has little or big things in the car every weekend. Few teams are guaranteed to be on the grid next year. Formula One is not easy. The Hispania and other teams cannot give that guarantee."
Senna seems to be worried, but Carbante has refuted claims by suggesting they will be back next year and are looking at Ferrari-built engines.
Time will see what the future holds for Hispania, but they need serious investment, better manufactures and lots of testing if they want any sort of serious future in the sport.
If they can attain that they may be back for next season, but right now they are making a real paella of things.
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