Quali and race preparation for Hispania's three drivers on hand
It was the first day of the second home race for Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team at the Valencia Street Circuit. In the sunny first session, test and reserve driver Christian Klien was called into action for the second time this season for the Spanish team. He did 14 laps and a best lap time of 1.47.343. Bruno Senna was running in the second car and ended up 21st (1.47.123).
Due to a drive boot damage, the Brazilian had to stop at the end of the first practice, while the Austrian had a gear box problem. In the afternoon, Karun Chandhok was back in the car again and did 21 laps, clocking a best time of 1.44.566. Bruno Senna added 24 more laps and was able to improve his morning lap times (1.44.095).
Dr Colin Kolles, Team Principal:
“Today’s results were not significant for us because we concentrated on our works for tomorrow and Sunday. In the morning session, Christian Klien had a gearbox problem and Bruno Senna a problem with a drive boot. As a precaution, we investigated the problem Christian had in the morning on Bruno’s car and that’s why Bruno started late into the second session. But at the end of the second practice, we could already work on the program for tomorrow and for Sunday.”
Karun Chandhok, Race driver #20:
“It was quite a tricky day for us. The first two sectors were good for us but then we had a hydraulic problem in sector 3 on the option tyre run so no representative ultimate lap time for me. We will have to look at Bruno to judge our pace and it definitely looks like we could be in decent shape to compete with Virgin cars tomorrow. The tyre degradation wasn't as bad as Montreal and the option tyre was more consistent as expected. The track will improve a bit more tomorrow so hopefully we can have a productive FP3 and prepare well for qualifying and race in front of our team's home crowd.
Bruno Senna, Race driver #21:
“The first session was difficult because of the track conditions. It was very slippery and therefore not easy to drive. But the grip level improved in the afternoon and the lap times got better. We could do our quickest lap on the option tyres and now we have to focus on the qualifying. ”
Christian Klien, Reserve and test driver:
“It was a new circuit for me and in the first laps I had to learn the track, which was very dusty in the beginning. But the conditions got better and I could improve my lap times. In the end, it is disappointing as I only could do 14 laps in my second session for Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team. We had a gearbox problem on the car and that’s why I had to stop before the end of the session.”
