Adapted from GMM
HRT failed to qualify after an embarrassing display in Australia, but owner Jose Ramon Carabante insists the Spanish team will be beating rivals Marussia Virgin and Team Lotus by May.
He confessed that the Melbourne debacle, where mechanics spent the official practice sessions cobbling together the F111 which ultimately fell outside the 107 per cent qualifying rule, was due to financial problems.
"If we had the budget of the other teams, we would have come to the first race of the season with 3,000 kilometres under the belt. But like last year, we began the development of the car too late due to the budget. We were closing (sponsor) agreements that in the end did not come," he explained in Spanish on Cadena Ser radio.
Jose Ramon Carabante admits that a technical deal regarding 2011 with Toyota was "broken" at a late stage: "So we set a realistic goal with the budget that we had."
Revealing that Hispania Racing Team's budget for this year is EUR 45 million, he said the team's showing in Australia was an achievement.
"We did 11 laps with Liuzzi. If he had done 20, he would have qualified. Getting within 1.7 second without driving hardly at all is a miracle," insisted Jose Ramon Carabante.
HRT failed to qualify after an embarrassing display in Australia, but owner Jose Ramon Carabante insists the Spanish team will be beating rivals Marussia Virgin and Team Lotus by May.
He confessed that the Melbourne debacle, where mechanics spent the official practice sessions cobbling together the F111 which ultimately fell outside the 107 per cent qualifying rule, was due to financial problems.
"If we had the budget of the other teams, we would have come to the first race of the season with 3,000 kilometres under the belt. But like last year, we began the development of the car too late due to the budget. We were closing (sponsor) agreements that in the end did not come," he explained in Spanish on Cadena Ser radio.
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| Tonio Liuzzi at the wheel of the F111 at Melbourne. |
Jose Ramon Carabante admits that a technical deal regarding 2011 with Toyota was "broken" at a late stage: "So we set a realistic goal with the budget that we had."
Revealing that Hispania Racing Team's budget for this year is EUR 45 million, he said the team's showing in Australia was an achievement.
"We did 11 laps with Liuzzi. If he had done 20, he would have qualified. Getting within 1.7 second without driving hardly at all is a miracle," insisted Jose Ramon Carabante.