Hispania F111

Pre-season

After struggling both on and off-track in 2010, speculation suggested that the team would not be racing in 2011. The car's development had a chequered history before it was even built, with an arrangement with the remains of Toyota Racing to give the team access to the abandoned TF110 project falling through before it could even be completed, with Toyota citing the uncertain financial condition of the team as the leading cause in the failed joint venture. Later reports suggested that while Hispania no longer had access to the TF110, designer Geoff Willis had been given access to the technical plans of the car for long enough to incorporate ideas from the TF110 into the F111 chassis. Driver Narain Karthikeyan later admitted that the F111 would largely be based on its predecessor, the Hispania F110.

The team set a provisional launch date of 3 March,^[1] however, the car was not unveiled until 11 March at the final pre-season test in Barcelona. The team was unable to conduct any testing as key suspension parts that had been flown into the country had not been released by Spanish customs.^[2] This made Hispania the twelfth and final team to launch their 2011 car. The late launch date of the car, after the cancellation of the test at the Bahrain International Circuit, one week before the first race of the season, meant that the launch was postponed by just over one week.

The team employed Hollywood concept vehicle designer Daniel Simon – known for his work on the 2011 film Tron: Legacy – to design the car's livery.^[3]

Performance

The F111 enjoyed its best race in Canada when Vitantonio Liuzzi finished 13th and Narain Karthikeyan (pictured) finished 17th because of a time penalty which demoted him from 14th to 17th.

The F111 completed its first timed lap in the last 10 minutes of the third practice session of the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, driven by Karthikeyan. In qualifying later that day, the car failed to qualify within 107% of pacesetter Sebastian Vettel and was not allowed to start the race. During this race weekend the F111 lacked its nose and front wing which had not then passed crash tests. The car therefore used those that had been designed for the F110. From the next race in Malaysian Grand Prix the correct wing and nose were fitted. The F111 was then able to qualify comfortably within the 107% time. In the next two races, both cars managed to finish the race. At the Spanish Grand Prix, only Karthikeyan was able to finish the race, while Liuzzi retired with a gearbox problem. In the next two races both drivers finished the race, including the Canadian Grand Prix where the team enjoyed their best race to date with Liuzzi and Karthikeyan finishing in 13th and 14th places respectively. However, Karthikeyan was given a post-race penalty which demoted him to 17th place.

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points	WCC
2011	Hispania Racing F1 Team	Cosworth CA2011 V8	P		AUS	MAL	CHN	TUR	ESP	MON	CAN	EUR	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	KOR	IND	ABU	BRA	0	11th
				Karthikeyan	DNQ	Ret	23	21	21	17	17	24		TD				TD	TD	TD	17
				Ricciardo									19	19	18	Ret	NC	19	22	19	18	Ret	20
				Liuzzi	DNQ	Ret	22	22	Ret	16	13	23	18	Ret	20	19	Ret	20	23	21		20	Ret

References

↑ Elizalde, Pablo (25 January 2011). "HRT aims to run new car in Bahrain test". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
↑ Beer, Matt (11 March 2011). "HRT unable to run on Saturday". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
↑ "HRT livery to be done by Daniel Simon". Motorsport.com. GMM. 2011-01-21. Retrieved 2011-01-26.

HRT Formula 1 Team

Founders Adrián Campos José Ramón Carabante Noted personnel Colin Kolles Geoff Willis Luis Pérez-Sala Daniele Audetto Toni Cuquerella Noted drivers Karun Chandhok Bruno Senna Sakon Yamamoto Christian Klien Narain Karthikeyan Daniel Ricciardo Vitantonio Liuzzi Pedro de la Rosa Formula One cars F110 F111 F112

Cars that competed in the 2011 Formula One season

Red Bull RB7 McLaren MP4-26 Ferrari 150° Italia Mercedes MGP W02 Renault R31 Williams FW33 Force India VJM04 Sauber C30 Toro Rosso STR6 Lotus T128 Hispania F111 Virgin MVR-02

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.