Saturday: HRT on the last row far from its rivals
The two HRT drivers had a complicated day, especially this morning during Free Practice 3, and even though things improved during qualifying, Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan ended up far from their direct rivals and couldn't do better than to line up on the last row.
Pedro de la Rosa – 23rd and 23rd:
« It wasn’t easy and not yet perfect but I knew it would be much better than yesterday, and this morning, on my out lap, I could already feel the tires heating up. We struggled to get them properly heated all weekend and finally during qualifying, we managed. Partly because the track temperature increased and because we improved the car’s balance, but the grip level is still quite low. It was enjoyable and hopefully it will be the same tomorrow for the race, but on this track we are far from our direct rivals. But in any case, we will do our best tomorrow and we will fight until the end. »
Narain Karthikeyan – 24th and 24th:
« Driving was a real challenge this morning because it was complicated to get the tires up to temperature. But things improved this afternoon with a warmer track. The tires and the car performed much better and we managed to do a few good laps. I think we could have improved in the last laps but the car suddenly stopped. We had an issue with the fuel pump that we are currently investigating, but we don’t expect it to be problematic for tomorrow’s race. »
