Friday: Insufficient Progress for HRT
Pedro de la Rosa was able to test the new developments brought by HRT and he is happy with the progress made, although he believes it is still not enough. Dani Clos tested the F112 for the first time, while Narain Karthikeyan had an afternoon of trouble, covering only two laps.
Dani Clos – 24th (Free Practice 1)
I am happy to have been able to drive this car for the first time today, even though it was a short first encounter. The feeling I got when I left the pits and saw the Spanish fans, and competing in a Spanish team alongside Pedro, was incredible. It was my first time with the new car and I wasn’t 100% comfortable because the car is made for Narain, so I had to adapt. We were able to conduct aerodynamic tests and work on different things, so I’m happy to have done my job for the team.
Narain Karthikeyan – 24th (Free Practice 2)
I’m disappointed not to have been able to cover more laps today; it clearly wasn’t the start to the weekend I was hoping for in Barcelona. Tomorrow we will have a mountain to climb with only one hour in the morning to prepare the car for qualifying, so we’ll really need to keep our heads down and work hard. Hopefully, we can make up for the lost time today and the situation will change tomorrow.
Pedro de la Rosa – 23rd and 23rd
Today, it was the day to try out the aerodynamic updates brought to Barcelona, so we completed several short stints to see how the car performed following these changes. It was interesting because the car has indeed improved, but we need an even bigger step forward, especially on such a challenging circuit with fast corners and where you need to improve the car’s balance. There is still a lot to be done and a lot of data to analyze to better understand how to make the most out of the updates.
