HRT team principal Colin Kolles says the team are aiming to finish tenth in the constructors’ championship.
The team moved from 12th to 11th ahead of Virgin after scoring their best-ever result in the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend.
They are behind Lotus, who are also yet to score any points, but have two 13th-place finishes to HRT’s one.
HRT issued the following Q&A with Kolles:
Q: As you predicted after Qualifying on Saturday, the race in Canada was crazy?óÔé¼?ª
CK: Yes, as predicted, it was a crazy race with a positive ending for us.
Q: Has the Canadian GP been Hispania Racing’s best GP? How did the team react to achieving its best ever position?
CK: Yes, the Canadian GP was the team’s best result. This is just the result of people, within the team, working very hard. We will continue to work hard and hope to improve and achieve better results.
Q: The team has taken a step forward and is reaffirming itself as a structure more and more.
CK: The team in itself is a strong team with a lot of dedicated people who give their 100% and work very hard. We are a small team but very efficient.
Q: Hispania Racing faced a lot of criticism at the start of the season, did you pay much attention to that or did you feel that with time the team would answer its critics?
CK: Time will always show who is right and who is wrong. Of course there are always things to be improved and criticism is ok as long as people understand what they are talking about.
Q: What has been the key to Hispania Racing’s improvement?
CK: Without a doubt, the continuous hard work and dedication put in by every member of the team.
Q: Do you feel there is more pressure at Hispania Racing than at other teams?
CK: This is all relative. Some people feel pressure and some don’t. The fact is that you have to push every day.
Q: When will the wind tunnel programme start?
CK: In July in the Mercedes wind tunnel.
Q: Will this programme already focus on the 2012 project?
CK: We will switch very soon to the 2012 car.
Q: What qualities do both drivers bring to the team?
CK: They contribute a lot to the team but if I had to single out Tonio [Liuzzi] and Narain [Karthikeyan]’s biggest virtues, I’d say they are speed and experience.
Q: What is the team’s aim for the next few races?
CK: There are still a lot of races left this season. We want to improve our results and achieve our target of being 10th in the constructor’s championship.
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Ben Everard
17th June 2011, 9:43
Targets are one thing, but to be honest I don’t see HRT beating Lotus Lotus any time soon… even whilst Lotus have had one more retirement, HRT have failed to qualify for one race, the only team to do so this year.
dau
17th June 2011, 10:10
They don’t need to beat them on speed, they just need another chaotic race like Canada. They would already be ahead in the WCC if one additional car had retired.
Todfod (@todfod)
17th June 2011, 12:47
True. Races like Canada are a lottery, and an incorrect strategic decision or small driver error can see cars being a lap down on drivers they were racing against. HRT lucked in big time at Canada, and only a tremendous amount of luck alone will get them in front of Lotus. I seriously doubt that will happen though….
Mike
17th June 2011, 15:33
They didn’t kinda beat virgin in a fair fight though….
Granted like you said, I think a stupid amount of luck would be needed to beat Lotus.
Mike
18th June 2011, 6:03
*did*
Arghhhh!
DVC
20th June 2011, 0:09
They need luck, but not a stupid amount. I’d rate them at no worse than 10 to 1 to beat Lotus.
Douglas 62500
17th June 2011, 11:51
Well judging from their current progress I guess they would be looking good next year as long as financially they are secure.
bosyber (@bosyber)
17th June 2011, 12:40
Still, good to have a clear target. I mean, winning the WDC and WCC, multiple times, is about the ultimate in F1 and thus the default target, but that seems a bit far off as a workable motivator, starting by getting the 10th spot seems like a more reasonable shorter term goal.
Chris
17th June 2011, 9:47
When HRT beat tony lotus this year, i hope fernandes publicly cries on tv,…
Jon
17th June 2011, 14:38
Haha, this.
Chris P
17th June 2011, 9:48
The lamest PR Q&A I’ve ever read.
Fixy (@)
17th June 2011, 10:05
Haha yes, a bit of a let down!
Sush Meerkat
17th June 2011, 10:50
Is was pretty short and sharp, but take a look at one of the answers;
Efficient at answering questions too!, breath of fresh to be honest, Team Principals normally use filler to extend their answers in the vaguest possible way.
Normally I forget these Q&A’s 2 minutes after I’ve read them because they are neither interesting nor offensive in any way.
BasCB (@bascb)
17th June 2011, 9:48
It might sound crazy to set that kind of goal, but sports is about having ambitions and working hard to acheive those, so hat off for Kolles picking a really tough target for the season.
It would be an enormous feat if they would actually get close to reaching that goal, as Team Lotus has at least double the budget and better drivers as well to go with the world championship Renault engine and RBR gearbox!
This is starting to feel like really a real race team, finally.
vagodeska
17th June 2011, 9:58
I agree with you! I could not write it down better…
Maybe they will not beat the Team Lotus but they will try, what is important.
Fixy (@)
17th June 2011, 10:07
It’s very optimistic of them to think of beating Lotus, but after all it could happen in just one race, where many retirements (including the Lotuses) could help HRT to end 12th.
AdrianMorse
17th June 2011, 9:50
I didn’t really follow the progress of the likes of HRT at last Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, but I can’t really get too excited about their best GP ever if it’s mostly about staying on track in a race of attrition.
I don’t think they will beat Lotus on pace this year, but if there is another crazy race, then I don’t think it’s impossible they bag a 12th place.
Still, battles between teams are only interesting when they start scoring regularly, not because of a single out-of-the-points finish.
Mike
17th June 2011, 15:38
Liuzzi overtook both Virgin cars during the Canadian GP to finish ahead of them.
DannyS
17th June 2011, 9:56
Not going to happen any time soon; Lotus only ended up where they did because of pitting mistakes and technical problems in Trulli’s car that prevented him from fully utiliing the car’s capabilities, not the race pace of the HRT cars.
KeeleyObsessed (@keeleyobsessed)
17th June 2011, 10:14
Well, as impossible as that sounds, I hope they try and prove us wrong.. I’d love to see one of the new teams scoring, they’re underdogs. It’s like us supporting Kobayashi (who has only been in the sport a few races longer than the new teams). We all enjoy watching Kobayashi make their way up the order, I’d love to see the new teams do the same, and when there’s 3 of them… Well, at least they’ve got each other to attempt to beat
James
17th June 2011, 10:40
Just think, all we need is a high attrition race and a team such as HRT could just slip into the points, if not 11th place. Tortoise and hare sort of moment really.
BasCB (@bascb)
17th June 2011, 10:46
Keith, an interesting aspect of the HRT background might be this tweet by @EliGP (Pablo Elizalde, Autosport):
Shows how much they belong to F1 and hark back to the golden years of late 80′ and early 90′ :-D
Maybe Kolles was giving a nice interview with good quotes to guide attention away from something like that?
Then maybe they can now find a buyer to take the team further.
TheBrav3
17th June 2011, 15:19
lol that would make my day if true.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
17th June 2011, 10:56
Well, someone’s got to wipe the smirk of Tony Fernandes’ face. Hispania doing it suits me just as much as Virgin.
marc connell
17th June 2011, 11:28
HRT was a joke to start off, but there actually making progress…
Oliver
17th June 2011, 11:54
It is ironic, that from 1st to 10th position, uses the points system, while, 11th to 24th, uses the medal system.
BS
17th June 2011, 19:40
It’s actually consistent with the point scoring teams. When there is a tie in points (be it 250 or 0), highest finishes apply.
Hairs (@hairs)
17th June 2011, 12:45
Hence the immense amount of competition from other team principals to retain their services. I hear Kolles had to use a crowbar to get Vijay’s hands unclamped from Liuzzi’s arm the day he went to pick him up.
85Q
17th June 2011, 13:34
haha, he is doing ok tho.
but klien would be really giving the virgins a hard time………..that really doesnt sound right but you know what i mean!
Burnout (@burnout)
17th June 2011, 18:23
Liuzzi and Klien would be a bit of a throwback to the old days of Red Bull though. Might’ve been fun to watch.
Toro Stevo
17th June 2011, 14:54
I was keeping an eye on the placings in the Montreal race, despite the obvious excitement up the front, and I noticed that the HRTs were running very well (if memory serves, they were also in front of Maldonado for a time). But despite that, I didn’t see any footage of one all day, unless they were being lapped (which wasn’t that often this time).
It must be hard for teams in that position, particularly this year, as they get so little TV time. This impacts negatively on their ability to get sponsors, keep sponsors, and also maintain a fan base. It’s frustrating as a fan trying to follow drivers and teams at the back of the field, because it’s so rare that any attention is paid to them, even when they have performed well. And as we don’t get a post-race run down here in Australia, we don’t even get to see the interesting bits afterwards.
HRT seem to be progressing well on the track compared to last year, and I wish them all the best in their ambitious aim of beating Lotus, despite the fact I have a strong fondness for the Lotus team as well.
Steve
17th June 2011, 16:57
I think its less of a case of HRT making progress, rather than Virgin going backwards. Virgin have basically abandoned the 2011 car already. They finished ahead of a single remaining crippled Lotus in an utterly chaotic race, hardly enough to make them truly believe they can challenge Lotus on pace. This talk is just a bit of PR so they can cover up those silly ‘This is a cool spot’ stickers. That said, Liuzzi did well in difficult conditions. Props to Kahartikeyan too, he only quali’d a tenth off Liuzzi and had a decent race, never expected him to get so close to Liuzzi.
MVEilenstein
17th June 2011, 17:59
I find it interesting how happy people are to see HRT struggle. It’s like they enjoy it.
Burnout (@burnout)
17th June 2011, 18:29
Shows just how many people have bought into Luca and Bernie’s idea that only rich teams belong in F1. Personally I think the sport would be poorer without all the upstart teams that have come up and never even progressed as far as the midfield. Especially since Toyota have proved that money doesn’t guarantee success.
MVEilenstein
17th June 2011, 19:19
Case in point: below.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
17th June 2011, 19:07
What a pity to have such a team like HRT in F1, aiming to be 10th as a second – year goal. AN IMPORTANT QUESTION, please answer: Why were the 107% teams forgiven over and over, then allowed to race and be only moving obstacles for the leaders? If the rule is there, it should be applied to avoid us see the sad spectacle of the back teams.
MVEilenstein
17th June 2011, 19:26
If not for dispensations, at whom would you direct your vitriol if not the “back teams?”
Here’s an important question: if you feel that the F1 grid is only for “the leaders,” then who should be allowed to race based on their qualifying times? Only those who make 105%? 103? 102.75?
OmarR-Pepper (@)
18th June 2011, 15:45
Well, F1 is obviously for the ones accepted. But if there’s this rule about the 107% and it’s not being used, so why did they make the rule! FIA should then simply say: “all cars are allowed, even if their low-speed can endanger others”. Remember Monaco and the big crash in front of the leaders? I know f1 has accidents in Monaco, but if the overlapped cars had taken out one of the three leaders it’d been a shame… they finally affected the result because the final safety car only benefited Vettel and his old tyres. The point of my question is about 107% rule. And my real apologizes if the “back teams” comment was rude
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
17th June 2011, 19:48
Yet again, someone who doesn’t understand the rule. The rule allows stewards to use their own discretion for a driver outside the 107%, as in whether or not they will start. It’s not that they’re ignoring the rule
Toro Stevo
17th June 2011, 20:24
Apply that logic over a long time, as teams naturally die, and you’re eventually left with one or two teams fighting for the championship. Are there any 50/60s teams besides Ferrari still competing?
Put it another way, here’s a team with a tenth of the budget of the major F1 teams, that within 18 months is putting a car to within 5-7% of the fastest racing cars in the world. They have had huge support in engine/gearbox wear I will admit, but they are hardly amateurs. To have survived this long, and to compete with other teams in lowly 10th place but with almost double their budgets (still insignificant compared to McLaren/RBR/Ferrari) is worthy of my appreciation at least.
MVEilenstein
17th June 2011, 21:42
Careful – I bet there are more than a few people here who would be perfectly happy with that!
Erik
17th June 2011, 19:18
Only one thing to say about this: HAHAHAHAHAHA
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
17th June 2011, 19:45
I can’t really see HRT being able to challenge Lotus unless we have a few more races like Canada.
MVEilenstein
17th June 2011, 19:58
Give it time. They’ll get there.
Tom
17th June 2011, 22:34
Why all the Lotus hate in these comments? Why would some people be annoyed that Tony Fernandes has come into the sport, established a truly professional team with two solid drivers, been successfully at getting serious sponsorship, and a team that looks set to become a firmly established midfield team by the end of the season?
The only thing sets Tony Fernandes apart from other team principals is that he is not European. Is that the cause of the annoyance? Unfortunately, I suspect that is the reason.
MVEilenstein
17th June 2011, 22:58
If you’re going to accuse anyone of racism, you better have some concrete evidence.
tolgakaranlik
20th June 2011, 12:18
I believe no opinion would change if a European leader comes to the team. Consider a man with name “Enrico Garcia” comes as the principal, do you think if all oppositions would disappear? Charging people with racism is not nice
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
18th June 2011, 2:41
I don’t think using Mercedes wind tunnel will help them by any mean as they were late in bringing out their car which played against them as they didn’t had any testing what so ever with the car.
HRT Fan
20th June 2011, 2:45
HRT are looking more like an F1 Team now. Colin Kolles has done a brilliant job of keeping the team going and they are now securing more sponsorship.
They are a very small F1 Team but have some very good experienced Technical Staff, Geoff Willis, Paul White, Jacques Eechelaert and Antonio Cuquerella and this has clearly showen through by the fact as to how quickly they have caught and passed Virgin after failing to qualify for the season opening race.
And don’t underestimate Vitantonio Liuzzi’s importance in HRT’s improvement as his experience, car development skills and technical feed back to the team’s engineers is very good.
Force India are struggling this season albeit with two very fast drivers (Di Resta & Sutil), Mercedes Engines and KERS and McLarens Gearboxes and Technical Support, I can’t help but wonder if they are missing Liuzzi’s Technical feedback.