HRT’s development driver, Ma Qing Hua, will make his first track appearance at an official Formula 1 race at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix when he becomes the first Chinese-born driver to race in the sport. He will replace Narain Karthikeyan for the opening session on the Friday, and will team-mate Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa.
Throughout the majority of the season, HRT have elected their reserve driver Dani Clos to take part in numerous Friday practice sessions, however this weekend will see a slight change as 24-year-old Ma Qing Hua gets behind the wheel of the F112 for the first time since the Young Driver Test at Silverstone back in July. The Shanghai-born driver completed 483.062km during the Silverstone test, and greatly impressed the team as well as securing himself a Formula 1 Super License which enables him to partake during official race weekends.
"This is a very important step towards my dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver.” Explained Ma Qing Hua, “It will be my second time in the car, after the Young Driver Test in Silverstone, and I’m very excited about driving at a circuit like Monza. The objective of this session is to continue advancing with my programme, rack up more miles and experience at the wheel of an F1 car and help the team with whatever they need. I’m excited but also calm about it because I’ve been training hard in the past months to be prepared when the opportunity presented itself. I’ve also worked on the simulator to get to know the circuits a bit better and how a Formula 1 car reacts.”
This weekend will see Ma Qing Hua make F1 history as he becomes the first Chinese-born driver to race in the sport, after Dutch-born Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung tested for Williams and Renault as well driving in the GP2 Series. This will be the second time HRT have made F1 history this season, the first coming at the Spanish Grand Prix when it was announced that Dani Clos would be driving for them alongside Pedro de la Rosa in first practice. This therefore created the first ever all-Spanish line-up in a Spanish F1 team at all places, Spain.
"Personally, it fills me with satisfaction to be able to give Ma the opportunity to make his debut at a Grand Prix, and to do it in FP1 at a classic circuit like Monza makes it even more special.” Said HRT’s team principal, Luis Perez-Sala. “Since we started working with him in March everything has been very quick but he’s responded and overcome every phase accordingly. From tests with World Series or GP2 cars, passing through sessions on the simulator, to the Formula 1 tests in Silverstone where he completed 500 km with no problems. He’s shown to us that he’s on a good level and has transmitted the necessary confidence to take the next step, which is to make his debut at a free practice session of a Grand Prix.”
Narain Karthikeyan, who will sit out the opening practice session for Ma Qing Hua, will naturally make a return behind the cockpit of the F112 during the second practice session in the afternoon. Just like at Spa-Francorchamps last time out, this will be the Indian drivers first appearance at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza since his debut season in 2005 with Jordan.
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