Positive qualifying session for HRT
Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team completed qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix today after a difficult first day in Monza. The Spanish team’s cars performed reliably and both drivers, Bruno Senna and Sakon Yamamoto, managed to run faster than in the morning session.
The Brazilian clocked his best lap time of the weekend so far (1.26.847) and will start tomorrow’s race from 22nd position. Sakon Yamamoto was 23rd after a best lap time of 1.27.020. In the morning, both drivers were able to run at constant pace and continue gaining experience in Monza.
Dr Colin Kolles, Team Principal: “It was a positive day for us. We could fix the problems we had on both cars yesterday and therefore I want to thank the team for their great job. Bruno Senna showed a good development during practice three and was close to the other new teams in between. This is a good effort as he couldn’t do many laps yesterday. On Sakon Yamamoto’s car, a drive shaft boot was broken, which forced him to stop prematurely. In qualifying, both of our drivers performed well and are starting the race from positions 22 and 23. We have a good car balance and we found the right set-up for the race tomorrow.”
Sakon Yamamoto, Race driver #20: “Yesterday, we couldn’t get enough mileage due to a mechanical problem. In the third practice this morning, we had a problem on the drive shaft and I had to stop before the end of the session. Because of this, I couldn’t use the option tyres in a session before qualifying. I want to thank the team, who managed to get the car ready and prepared it well. We will try to do our best tomorrow and are looking forward to the race.”
Bruno Senna, Race driver #21: “I am happy that the problem we had yesterday has been fixed and I want to thank the team for the good job they did. In the third practice session, I had traffic on all of my best laps. That’s why I couldn’t manage to be further up. The qualifying was okay and we did the best we could. My teammate and I are close together and we hope to have a good race tomorrow.”
