Narain Karthikeyan eyeing maiden points for Hispania Racing Team: Formula One news
Hispania Racing Team’s (HRT) driver Narain Karthikeyan is aiming to score his team’s maiden points in the 2011 Formula One season. The team made its debut in the previous season, but was unable to score a single point. However, there were some changes made
this year and the Indian driver was hired by the team for the ongoing season.
The target for HRT before the start of the season was to beat the other new teams; Virgin and Lotus. Things didn’t go exactly as planned for the team though, as they have been at the bottom of the field in the opening three races this year.
Commenting on his own form, Karthikeyan stated, “I am delivering 90 per cent. I work out at least two-four hours a day. But still I need to push more. Obviously, I need to keep improving. But after that seven-year gap, I feel like a rookie again.”
The Indian driver further added, “Definitely my realistic target during the year is to score a point or two. We want to be the best of the new teams. I think that is achievable.”
Karthikeyan was also excited about the Indian Grand Prix, which will take place in October, and will be the first one to be staged in the country.
HRT had to face a lot of disappointment after they were unable to qualify for the race day in Australia. Both drivers of the team, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Karthikeyan, were unable to clock a lap time within 107 percent of the fastest lap by Sebastian Vettel
in the qualifiers.
The team vowed to improve on the terrible start to the season and managed to make it through to the race day in the next two races in Malaysia and China.
Lotus has been the best amongst all the newcomers since last year. Although the team has not yet scored its maiden points, they have outpaced both Virgin and HRT. The next target for Lotus will be to finish the ongoing season in the midfield of the constructor’s
championship. They have planned major upgrades after the Turkish Grand Prix, which are expected to increase their race and qualifying pace.
All the top teams have also planned to bring updates for the next race and there is a stiff competition expected between McLaren and Red Bull. The reigning champions were dominant at the start of the season, but the Vodafone sponsored team bounced back strongly
in the third race, at Shanghai.
The next race will reveal the true picture though, as Red Bull had some issues with their Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) in China. Driver Mark Webber was unable to impress in the qualifiers due to the failure of the power boost system, but things
will be entirely different once all systems are working for Red Bull.
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