Basically I don’t feel they added anything to the sport in the last 3 years. I never thought in 3 years ‘Wow HRT had a good race today’. People can say ‘they tried’ and ‘it was great to have more cars’ but you only ever saw them when they were getting lapped or retiring. In the end I have to wonder why the team has made it this far at all! The team only ever haemorrhaged money, and in the end it was for less than nothing. Who would want to invest in a team whose only records can be measured in a back row lock outs and car failures!? The livery on the 2011 car with those ‘Your space here’ type signs was, frankly, embarressing to see. I mean can anyone here ever truthfully say that they expected HRT to enter the 2011 or 2012 seasons with a car that was meant to be a mid-field contender? The lack of updates meant they only ever got worse over the course of a season, which would further put off sponsors. Without these then there was never going to be any real progress.
#F1 2012 HRT DRIVERS#
HRT simply didn’t have the start up money or the personel to deliver a car that would lure decent drivers or sponsors. If you want to compete to win in the most expensive and technically advanced sport in the world then I think you need to ensure you have a base line level of resources to make it a realistic expectation that you might move forward and evolve as a team doing better year on year. Their cars made it within the 107% rules and were allowed to ‘compete’ with the others… BUT It was a commendable effort for sure, they probably worked harder than some other teams to get their cars on the grid, and I respect them for their aspirations to compete with the best. Generally over the years on this site, I’ve noticed everyone seems to jump on the bandwagon of saying how great it is that they’re ‘trying’ and now how sad it is the team are going.
I know I won’t make any friends here by saying this, but it’s my opinion and I’m entitled to it.
The cash-strapped team switched drivers during the year, bringing in Sakon Yamamoto and later Christian Klien. Karun Chandhok didn’t even get to drive his until qualifying began. Their Dallara-built car was presented shortly before the first race of the year in Bahrain and the team were still assembling their two cars for the first time as the season began. But after his attempt to establish the squad failed it was taken over by Jose Ramon Carabante who renamed it Hispania Racing Team. 2010įormer F1 racer Adrian Campos gained one of the F1 team slots offered for 2010. Look back on HRT’s short-lived Formula One campaign in this collection of pictures. Spanish Grand Prix winner Pastor Maldonado also tested for the team prior to his promotion to Williams’ race squad in 2011. However the team did provide a starting point for drivers like Daniel Ricciardo and Bruno Senna. In its first two years it avoided finishing last in the constructors’ championship but fell to the foot of the table this year. Its best result was a 13th place scored by Vitantonio Liuzzi in last year’s Canadian Grand Prix. The team achieved little in 58 races – 56 of which it started – during the last three years. The brief life of HRT in Formula One has come to an end with the news that the team has no place on the grid for 2013.