Both HRT cars at the finish but 4 laps down
Both HRT cars made it to the finish today at the Singaporean GP. They were however both 4 laps down on the leader. It was a tough race for Tonio as well as Daniel. They both broke their front wings during the race and had to have them changed, losing a lot of tracktime.
The 14th race of the Formula 1 World Championship, and only night race on the calendar, took place today at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore and didn’t disappoint, testing both drivers and cars to the limit. Daniel Ricciardo and Vitantonio Liuzzi felt the demands of this Grand Prix as they both had to adapt their strategies as the race went on in order to cross the finish line with their F111’s. The Australian and Italian finished in 19th and 20th respectively.
Vitantonio Liuzzi, F111-002, #23, 20th:
“Today’s race has been quite tough; not only because the car was difficult to drive in such conditions but also because we have been a little unlucky. The first half of the race has been good and then, in the last quarter, we were forced to change to our last set of tyres because the rear was going and had to put on the tyres that we used in qualifying. Immediately I felt that the car had a lot less grip, to the point where I locked the front on turn 14 without doing anything different and I touched the wall, which caused the wing to break. So I was forced to pit again. After the wall incident the car was difficult to drive with quite a lot of understeer so we just tried to reach the checkered flag from there. So it was tough out there but with the positive of having reached the end”.
Daniel Ricciardo, F111-003, #22, 19th:
“Unfortunately my race wasn’t too exciting because I got my nose clipped on the first lap. It was all a bit bunched into turn 8 and I didn’t have a clear line so I just wanted to keep that line for the next corner and had a touch. It was my mistake for going in a bit too deep and it was a costly one because then I encountered quite a few blue flags which upset my rhythm. But the middle stint wasn’t too bad, we got a bit of a rhythm going but towards the end of the race we got more blue flags and tried to go quite long on the tyres, which was pretty difficult to manage. But we made it and it’s good to get to the finish line though in the toughest race of the season. Now I need to keep on working and move forward”.
Colin Kolles, Team Principal:
“We knew it was going to be a tough race and it has been, but we achieved the main objective of the team that was crossing the finish line with both cars. We had different strategies for each one of the drivers and we knew that the chances of a safety car were high therefore we had alternatives to adapt our strategy quickly. The planning was good but it had to come into place earlier than expected when Daniel had to pit to replace his front wing. Both Tonio and Daniel did a good job on the track because they adapted to the circumstances and kept focused. They managed to keep a fairly good rhythm despite the blue flags and pushed each other to the end. This one is over and now we are hoping for a better race in Japan in two weeks”.
