Friday: HRT drivers focus on the positives
The HRT team did not have an easy first day, Pedro de la Rosa experienced some brake issues, although they were quickly resolved. The Spanish driver then went off track, which prematurely ended his session, but he remains optimistic for tomorrow. The same goes for Narain Karthikeyan, even though the Indian driver had trouble getting his tires up to the right temperature.
Pedro de la Rosa – 22nd and 24th
During the first session, our weak point was the braking, as we were locking the front and rear tires. We improved that significantly this afternoon after some adjustments and I could immediately feel the difference. The session went well but I made a mistake and went off, which unfortunately damaged the entire front suspension. My session ended at that point, and we couldn’t test the Soft tires or many other things that were planned, but I focus on the positives, the progress made with the car. I’m fine, and my mechanics are already repairing the car. They are extraordinary professionals and tomorrow everything will be ready to give us a chance to perform well once again in front of our fans.
Narain Karthikeyan – 23rd and 23rd
«This morning, the track was very dirty because we hadn’t used it yet, but we did some relay runs and worked on the setup and weight distribution on the single-seater. This afternoon, we tried a few other small things because the track was much better, but we struggled to properly heat up the Soft tires for a quick lap, so we have work to do to get the most out of them for tomorrow’s qualifying. Otherwise, it has been a good day, and tomorrow we need to see how to build from there and find that good performance in qualifying we’ve been waiting for a long time.»
