Sunday: HRT was expecting a difficult weekend
The two HRT drivers finished dead last in this Grand Prix. Nevertheless, there are reasons for satisfaction for both Daniel Ricciardo and Vitantonio Liuzzi. The Australian managed to finish his first Grand Prix and thus gained experience for the rest of the season while Liuzzi was pleased to have been close to Virgin Racing.
Daniel Ricciardo – 19th:
I’m happy to finish and see the checkered flag. It was good to complete all the laps, which I think was the most important for me today. Understanding the tires, pit stops, and the strategy is really very complex and something I had never done before, so I think it was a step forward.
I was a bit behind compared to the other drivers, but I think I will be a little closer in the future. I also need to handle the blue flags a bit better, it’s not simple. In the end, taking all that into account, I’m quite happy with the result.
« My expectations for the next race are to learn and move forward to be a bit closer to Tonio in qualifying and try to reduce the gap in the race; I think that’s a good goal for now. »
Vitantonio Liuzzi – 18th:
« It was a difficult race, but we knew it since Friday when we had a lot of problems. It was complicated from the start because of the tires. The tire choice was not easy. We put on the intermediates because the track was wet at the beginning, but that made everything more interesting. »
We got off to a good start with a good pace, we were able to get closer to our nearest rivals, which is what we wanted to do for this race because we weren’t able to beat them. But we fought until the last lap and now we have to work hard for the Nürburgring.
