Saturday: Small reward for HRT after two difficult days
After twice defying the curfew imposed by the FIA this weekend, it was essential for the two HRT drivers to qualify this afternoon. And that's what they did, qualifying in 21st and 22nd positions.
Narain Karthikeyan – 22nd
« Yesterday and today have been very difficult, especially during the FP2 and FP3 when I ran with new parts and didn’t have the right balance. After, I was a bit worried about qualifying, but we all pushed together. We sat down and analyzed the situation. I’m happy to be ahead of our main opponents for the first time, and so close to Tonio. I’m satisfied with this position, especially since it’s the team’s home Grand Prix. Now, we’ll see how the race unfolds tomorrow. »
Vitantonio Liuzzi – 21st
« We can be happy about today’s qualifications, there are some improvements with the new parts, now we must continue to push with the new parts for the next race. We are in the right direction to improve the car and the entire team. So we’re doing well and need to work hard to make the next step. It’s very positive for us to be ahead of Virgin, it’s important for us to have a good race in front of our home crowd. There’s always a great atmosphere in Spain, but it’s even more motivating when you drive for a Spanish team, you can feel the support of others and you want to give your maximum to the fans. Hopefully, we can have a good start tomorrow without pit stop issues. It’s going to be a tough race given that we are struggling a bit with the new Pirelli tires. »
Colis Kolles
The qualifications today had both positives and negatives. The positive side is that we were faster than one of the two Virgins and have made some steps forward. The negative side is that we could have had both Virgins behind us, but Tonio did not have the best lap. My impression is that we have made some progress and will make a few more, we’ll see what happens on the track. We will use the strategy that works best with the car, not very different from the rest of the field. We will try to run as much as possible with new tires.