Pedro de la Rosa insists he is not afraid to admit he will tackle next weekend’s Australian grand prix at the wheel of the "worst" car.
"We will have a difficult year," said the veteran Spaniard, who is yet to actually drive HRT’s newly-launched F112.
"It will also be interesting because the team is 80 per cent new," added the 41-year-old former Arrows, Jaguar and Sauber driver, who for years was McLaren’s main test driver.
"We should not be afraid to admit that we are the worst, but we must have the ambition to not stay that way," he told Antena 3 television.
"Our goal is to finish races, stop being the last across the line and to grow, trying to close the gap to pole position."
The next stop, he said, is the Melbourne pitlane.
"The team is packing up everything and preparing a second chassis. Tomorrow night it is all put onto planes and sent to Australia.
"I leave on Monday," revealed de la Rosa.