HRT 2012

[JayeOFarrell]

Honestly any loss of a team is sad, whether they had made progress or not. All the noises coming out the team was that a this time there REALLY was a whole new car being designed for 2013 and I would have loved to see them have one last crack at it. If this new car was a failure then I would of felt comfortable with them leaving. At least this way it wont be as unceremonious and uncomfortable as the slow impulsion of Super Aguri.

[stefan_]

Losing a team is sad, losing HRT is not. I am so sorry for the people who lost or will lose their job, but you can't go like this forever, being a backmarker and struggling to get into 107%, being the ones that almost all the grid sumble upon on the track 5 laps after the start and being always accused of blocking and not letting people pass when they want.

What do drivers do in this team? They don't have the opportunity to proper race, to do what they love to do, because they reach a point in which they are not paying attention to their own race, their own strategy or their own overall progress because they always have to look for blue flags and people coming from behind (some of them cutting their way and doing dumb things because 'they are faster and passing a lapped car').

There have been three disastrous years. The team is like a hole in a money pipe.

[Petroltorque]

Honestly any loss of a team is sad, whether they had made progress or not. All the noises coming out the team was that a this time there REALLY was a whole new car being designed for 2013 and I would have loved to see them have one last crack at it. If this new car was a failure then I would of felt comfortable with them leaving. At least this way it wont be as unceremonious and uncomfortable as the slow impulsion of Super Aguri.

There was never going to be a NEW car. After a while one begins to see a pattern of behaviour within an organisation. HRT talked about a major upgrade for Singapore that never appeared. One could argue that the reason was that they were concentrating for 2013 but the reality was they did not have the money.
While I'm sure that Tatham had the bones of a car design, lack of money means he's restricted on what he can achieve. This year HRT had a bad car with handling imbalaces. With a limited budget you can attempt to dial out the imbalances but that still leaves a bad car.
Instead of wringing our hands over this corpse people should have ben asking HRT how they intended to setup a new base, hire staff, design and build a new car with euro 50 million. You can't. Caterham and Marussia have had to spend big to do inhouse operations. The only way it works is if you have your own race team and support staff and outsource all design and build to a specialist company. Even then you're going to near the back.
I don't think Thesan think they can sell HRT. Otherwise the would pay the entry fee. You can't buy the team without an entry can you?

[JayeOFarrell]

Its a very good point. Has there been any news of a potential buyer other then the apparent Abu Dhabi buyer?

[gerishnikov]

Even if they get a buyer now they will yet again struggle to get on the grid in 2013, simply because it is getting very close to teams starting to laminate 2013 chassis. even if the team planned to use this years design then it still takes in the region of 4-6 weeks worth of work to lay up a chassis then after you have all the machining and fitting to be done. They would require new tubs becuase after a season of use then they aren't much good for anything else they wil have chunks missing and cracks which will have been repaired. It was a company in saltzberg last year which was responsible for the manufacture of hrt's 2012 chassis.

[Petroltorque]

I think you mean Holzer. They had problems meeting the vrash tests meaning they had to produce a heavier tub.

[czt]

I think you mean Holzer. They had problems meeting the vrash tests meaning they had to produce a heavier tub.

Holzer didn't manufacture the chassis, that was Carbotech.

[gerishnikov]

Holzer didn't manufacture the chassis, that was Carbotech.

+1 they were paying decent money at the time too

[Petroltorque]

I think you mean Holzer. They had problems meeting the vrash tests meaning they had to produce a heavier tub.

Holzer didn't manufacture the chassis, that was Carbotech.

Holzer manufactured the 2012 tub and they made a mess of it.

[gerishnikov]

How come a colleuge of mine was working in Salzberg earlier this year manufacturing the hrt tubs. I remember the contract coming up and im sure it was carbotech as they were desperate to get staff over there, offering £27.50 an hour.

[Petroltorque]

Story about the chassis is here:
http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/03/21/hrt-f ... not-spain/

[WhiteBlue]

people should have ben asking HRT how they intended to setup a new base, hire staff, design and build a new car with euro 50 million.

Yep, taking the team to Spain was a dumb move considering that they had no big Spanish sponsor who would honour that expenditure. Now they don't stand a chance even if they luck into the 10th slot in a chaos race tomorrow.
Thesan simply have no clue about running an F1 racing team as the experts have been telling us from day one. It should be obvious by now for everyone.
It is particularly sad to watch this mess because so much was done by FOTA to give the new teams a chance. I strongly believe that F1 needs twelve teams in order to give a maximum number of nations a shot at F1 drivers and F1 team ownership. It has made F1 better and stronger to have three new teams. Thesan capital has deliberately thrown it away with their silly "Spanish only" plan.

[Petroltorque]

There are only 10 independent teams since Torro rosso is a Red Bull satellite.

[element]

It seems tomorrow we could have news, a deal with chinese and spanish companies (mostly chinese) has ben done and is being finalized. (well, these are rumors but seem to be true)
The team most likely will continue in Spain, having Ma Qing Hua confirmed as a driver and most likely De La Rosa to continue (rumors say 50% chance). Ownership will be mostly chinese, but KH-7 will be onboard too as the company wants to be in F1.
More rumors and hopefully real information to come tomorrow.

[Petroltorque]

It seems tomorrow we could have news, a deal with chinese and spanish companies (mostly chinese) has ben done and is being finalized. (well, these are rumors but seem to be true)
The team most likely will continue in Spain, having Ma Qing Hua confirmed as a driver and most likely De La Rosa to continue (rumors say 50% chance). Ownership will be mostly chinese, but KH-7 will be onboard too as the company wants to be in F1.
More rumors and hopefully real information to come tomorrow.

In the hope of having a full grid one hopes that someting worthwhile can be pulled from the rubble.
I seriously doubt De La Rosa will retain a seat. HRT really need a competent pay driver in the second seat.
Ma? What are the chances of the FIA tweaking the regulations to make the 107% cut off applicable to the Q3 pole?