HRT drivers to start from the back

HRT F1 Team, Hispania Racing today competed in the fourth qualifying session of its short Formula One history. The team's two drivers will start from the back of the grid at tomorrow's Chinese Grand prix.

In the third free practice this morning, Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna were 2º-4th in the speed trap, and posted laps in 1.41.141 for Karun Chandhok respectively and 1.40.316 for Bruno Senna, who made a good step forward.

Karun Chandhok will have a five place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race resulting of changed parts on the gearbox of his car.

Dr Colin Kolles commented: "The reliability of the HRT car will be a deciding factor in tomorrow’s battle and race. Let's see what the weather brings during the race tomorrow. All other teams had a winter with a lot of wet sessions. We do not know how competitive we can be in a wet race."

Bruno Senna commented: "In the morning we found a good performance today and the car felt good. It was much more consistent and I felt more confidence. We have a good improvement from yesterday and we could make a good step forward. I could do some long runs in preparation for the race tomorrow. I went a bit wide on my quick lap in qualifying and lost some time. It is okay, maybe a bit frustrating because I know I could have done much better than this. I went slower than in my fastest lap in free practice 3 because there were some changes to the throttle response which made it difficult to drive. We have to test as we go along. With more knowledge gained, I am confident of a strong run in the race tomorrow.“

Karun Chandhok commented: "We had some issues this morning which was a bit unfortunate. I left early in qualifying which was not bad for us as we could get closer to the other teams which is very encouraging for us. It will be a difficult race on a tricky circuit. The weather may be wet too and that will be our first race in rain. Whatever the conditions, we will make the best out of it."