Pedro de la Rosa says he was attracted by the non-traditional Spanish HRT – Formula 1 news
Pedro de la Rosa of HRT says that he was attracted by the concept of Spanish hierarchy in the team.
He said that the HRT was in Formula 1 for two years but they did not seem to be a serious team and the structure seemed hard to be developed.
Furthermore, he said that he wanted to join the team but he had no trust on HRT until the former team principal Colin Kolles was in the team and he came to know that Luis Perez-Sala is in the team.
He told El Pais newspaper, “They had been in F1 [for] two years and yet it did not look like a serious project. They had a bad structure that was difficult to change. I wanted to sign before, but I had no trust. When I saw Luis was there, I thought about
it.”
He said the idea of Spanish license, mechanics, engineers and drivers attracted him. The team principal says that de la Rosa is a great help for HRT. He is a great support because of his vast experience in the field of racing and the understanding he has
developed.
Furthermore, he said that he liked the concept of creating a Spanish team rather than entering a team from England.
“I liked the idea of being here [in Spain] not in England where the other teams are, but to create something different and a structure that is staying in Spain. It sounded good,” Rosa said.
The Spanish driver currently stands at 24th ranking in the drivers’ championship. He has not been able to score a single point in the current season. He started the Hungarian Grand prix at 23rd grid place ahead of his teammate Narain Karthikeyan.
His teammate Narain Karthikeyan could not finish the Hungarian GP however, he started the race at 24th grid position. In the current 2012 Formula 1 season, he was unable to race in the Australian Grand Prix because he was unable to qualify, whereas in the
next 10 races participated, he could only finish 8 races. He was retired in Monaco and Canadian Grands prix.
By the end of 2011, he signed a two-year contract with HRT although it was anticipated that the 40-year-old driver will not be able to make another start.
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