HRT team principal Colin Kolles is hoping their untested F111 will not give them “too many surprises” when they run it for the first time in Melbourne.
Kolles said: “We will run our new car for the first time on Friday and hopefully there won?óÔé¼Ôäót be too many surprises.
“We are confident that our package is better, quicker and more reliable than last year?óÔé¼Ôäós. We have definitely taken a step forward.”
Narain Karthikeyan said he was disappointed not to have driven the car yet and hopes it will be reliable:
“Even though it was disappointing to not be able to drive the new car in Barcelona, I?óÔé¼Ôäóm sure the car is a significant step forward from last year?óÔé¼Ôäós. It certainly looks the business, we just have to wait until Friday morning in Melbourne to put it all into practice.
“I think Albert Park will be a great place to start off with the new F111 since it?óÔé¼Ôäós not a very demanding track.
“For a new and unproven car such as ours, I think that reliability is something we need to work on before we can start to extract the maximum performance, so I believe that if both cars finish the race, we will have had a satisfying weekend.”
Team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi responded to recent speculation over the future of the Australian Grand Prix saying: “I?óÔé¼Ôäóm feeling quite positive coming into the Australian Grand Prix.
“It?óÔé¼Ôäós a special Grand Prix where the Australian fans always prove their love for motorsport and Formula 1 in particular, it would be a real shame if Melbourne decides to quit F1.
“Albert Park is a track I like, especially the first three corners where it is difficult to overtake but not impossible, you have to be impeccable in that section in order to do a good lap.”
2011 Australian Grand Prix
- Hamilton and Button expect more from McLaren
- Sauber will not appeal Australia disqualification
- 2011 Australian Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the Australian Grand Prix weekend?
- No home advantage for Webber at Red Bull
- Relief at McLaren after last-minute changes pay off
- Ferrari look for answers on missing pace
- Collisions spoil Mercedes’ start to the season
- Petrov fires Renault with fine drive to first podium
- Unreliability and driver errors hold Williams back
Browse all 2011 Australian Grand Prix articles
Image ?é?® Motioncompany
Klon (@)
18th March 2011, 19:58
Well if their car actually manages to be reliable, they could profit big time. Especially in the first races where chaos will most likely be present.
BasCB
19th March 2011, 11:15
I am curious to see how many laps they get in during FP1 and FP2 next week.
But you are right, if they can get some solid 12-16th place finishes in, they might have a chance of finishing 11th again this year, who knows they might just luck into the points.
David-A (@david-a)
18th March 2011, 20:01
And I’m hoping to score the winning try against Ireland tomorrow having never played Rubgy in my life.
David-A (@david-a)
18th March 2011, 20:02
And obviously can’t even spell it either :P
Cacarella
18th March 2011, 20:07
That’s okay, I read it right. ;)
Robert McKay
18th March 2011, 20:04
It’s little use taking one step forward if everyone else caught the bus on to the next town.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
19th March 2011, 1:28
Couldn’t have said it better. I’m sure they’ll have total reliability with no testing, when even the top teams have had their issues with reability this winter.
At least they’ll be more reliable out of the box than McLaren…
dj
18th March 2011, 20:45
I wonder were this guy missed the part about “you need a rich dad to go car racing”…hope that didn’t p o to many.
SteveH
18th March 2011, 21:18
Now there is a confident driver; he’s already planning where he will overtake!!!! Personally I think impeccable won’t matter, just actually doing a lap will.
Mike
18th March 2011, 21:21
I really hope things turn out well for them. I used to adore Minardi, I think HRT are going to get the same affection from me.
In fact that’s probably why I don’t particularly like Torro Rosso…
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
18th March 2011, 21:28
If they go some way towards sticking with their driver line-up that might help their cause with winning some fans over.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
19th March 2011, 1:30
Agreed. I’m not a fan of how either Tost or Kolles have treated their drivers in the last couple years. Toro Rosso were better last year in that regard, let’s hope HRT are this year.
Sound_Of_Madness
19th March 2011, 12:53
With one major difference. Tost was doing it, to find more promising drivers for the parent team; Kolles had to, in order to ensure his team’s survival. Not a fan of the Kolles approach there, but it works given the funds he has worked with since 2005.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
18th March 2011, 21:32
I agree with Liuzzi about hopefully not losing Melbourne, it’s too nice to lose.
TFLB
18th March 2011, 21:34
The HRT was actually very reliable last year and finished it’s second race. With experience from last year and a better gearbox than the xtrac, I see no reason why they shouldn’t at least almost finish the race.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
18th March 2011, 22:16
But look at how many teams caused red flags during testing? It will happen to HRT, just a case of when.
MattHT (@mattht)
18th March 2011, 22:17
I’m with Mike on this. I fell for Minardi back on the days of Katayama and co. HRT despite their failings are probably my favourite of the three slow teams (by last years measures), I hope this year isn’t a disaster for them. And Melbourne better not be lost, i know it drains all the locals tax money and makes a loss, but I’d happily not have my bins emptied for a decade and have the water supply to my town cut off if it meant they’d stage a GP in West Yorkshire :)
Mike
19th March 2011, 3:59
Katayama and Trulli, 97…. Now there are some memories!
SennaNmbr1 (@)
19th March 2011, 8:29
One of the best liveries ever, too.
Aetost (@aetost)
18th March 2011, 22:17
Considering the fact that this car is actually a slightly updated F110 with some old Williams parts, it may actually stand a chance finishing the race. If it manages to qualify, that is…
SennaNmbr1 (@)
18th March 2011, 23:00
Cant spring too many surprises for them, surely? I think both cars will finish if Liuzzi doesn’t bin it.
zecks
19th March 2011, 9:08
he will be fine because massa will be too far in front to t-bone him this season.
David-A (@david-a)
19th March 2011, 10:35
And Liuzzi won’t be there to dive up Massa’s inside either, like at Montreal.
TheGreatCornholio
18th March 2011, 23:00
This lot of amateurs have a little place in my heart in the same way that Minardi and Larrouse used to! Though my love of the Larrouse team was probably down to the awesome sounding Lamborghini V12 engine:). Way better sounding than the Ferrari equivalent!
PJ Tierney
18th March 2011, 23:24
Question; what do they learn from using the F110 for all the tests? (other than the Pirellis and the ARW)
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
19th March 2011, 10:16
Nothing but probably showing the world that they can make a car which ‘can’ win the first GP of 2011.
DavidS (@davids)
19th March 2011, 2:32
If you want reliability, that’s what testing is for.
Eggry (@eggry)
19th March 2011, 3:53
well, you hope too much.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
19th March 2011, 10:13
The only surprise I expect from them is the surprise of winning the first GP in Australia.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
19th March 2011, 15:04
Very likely indeed. :)
Lord Ha Ha
19th March 2011, 22:27
If Willis could extract reliability from those Jaguar greasejockey monkeys and even when they got presented with a Newey creation he should be able to make an old school bunch of nuts and bolts go around straight out of the box.