Sunday: HRT hopes to do better at Suzuka
Objective achieved for the HRT drivers, as they reached the finish of a race that spared them nothing. Accident in the first lap for Ricciardo, tire issues, and a late-race accident for Liuzzi, not to mention the numerous blue flags that disrupted their race pace.
Daniel Ricciardo – 19th
« Unfortunately, my race wasn’t very exciting because I broke my nose on the first lap. There was traffic in turn 8 and I just wanted to keep my line for the next turn and I made contact. It was my fault and it cost me because then I encountered blue flags which ruined my pace.
However, the middle stint wasn’t too bad, we were able to find our rhythm but, towards the end of the race, we had more blue flags and we tried to make the tires last, which was quite difficult to achieve. But we made it, and it’s good to see the finish after the toughest race of the season. Now, I have to keep working and move forward.
Vitantonio Liuzzi – 20th
« Today’s race was quite tough, not only because the car was difficult to drive in such conditions, but also because we had a bit of bad luck. The first half of the race was good and then, in the last quarter, we were forced to put on our last set of tires because the rear was going away and we had to use the tires we had used in qualifying. Immediately, I felt that the car had much less grip, to the point that I locked the front brakes in turn 14 without doing anything different and hit the wall, which damaged our wing. I then had to pit again.
After that, the car was difficult to drive with a lot of understeer and we just tried to make it to the finish.
Colin Kolles, Team Principal
We knew it would be a difficult race, and it was, but we accomplished the main goal, which was to bring both cars to the finish. We had different strategies for each of our drivers, and we knew the chances of seeing the safety car were high, so we had alternatives to adapt our strategy quickly. The plans were good, but we had to implement them sooner than expected when Daniel had to pit to replace his front wing.
Tonio and Daniel both did a good job on the track because they adapted to the circumstances and stayed focused. They managed to maintain a good pace despite the blue flags and pushed each other until the end.
This one is finished and now we hope to have a better race in Japan, in two weeks.
