Pedro de la Rosa has announced that HRT are set to introduce upgrades for next month’s Singapore Grand Prix, as the Spanish-outfit aim to lift themselves off of the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship. After three seasons in F1, HRT have yet to score their first World Championship points.
After returning from the summer recess, Pedro de la Rosa confirmed that HRT are still concentrating on making their F112 car quicker in comparison to the opposition. Regardless of the gap between HRT and the likes of Sauber and Force India, it’s undeniable that they have greatly improved throughout the season. Both Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan failed to qualify for the season opener in Australia, but have since greatly improved as the season has progressed, peaking by qualifying within 103.4% of the pole man at the European Grand Prix.
“I think that we’ve made progress; we’ve managed in this first [half] of the season to go in qualifying, from not qualifying in Australia outside the 107 per cent, to 103.4 per cent in Valencia, so I think that’s a very, very aggressive improvement.” Explained Pedro de la Rosa, “We don’t have anything new for the next few races. We will have an upgrade for Singapore. That’s where we are – but we are definitely happy with what we’ve done and what we’ve achieved, although it may not look like it in the results. We still can do a lot better in the second half.”
With several races until these new upgrades are introduced, Pedro de la Rosa has stated that the team expect to remain in the same positions as Hungary for the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix. They are naturally hoping these upgrades offer a boost to the overall pace of the cars, as they aim to move up the order.
“Before the break we knew that the upgrade was coming in Singapore, if everything goes to plan – and after the break it’s still the same.” Continued Pedro de la Rosa. “Until Singapore I think we will be more or less in the positions that we’ve been so far, and then wait for Singapore for this next upgrade.”
HRT’s reserve driver Dani Clos will once again return behind the wheel of the F112 for the opening practice session on Friday morning, before Narain Karthikeyan returns to action alongside Pedro de la Rosa as the team prepares for the weekend’s race.
Follow me on Twitter - @AndyYoungF1