London: Struggling Hispania paid a price this season for having less experienced drivers than their Formula One rivals, team principal Colin Kolles said on Wednesday.
Hispania (HRT) ended the season in 11th place, behind fellow-newcomers Lotus but ahead of Virgin Racing. None of the three scored any points.
"It was a difficult year but we were the most reliable new team," Kolles said in a Q+A issued by the Spanish-owned team. "I think the only reason why we did not finish 10th is that teams like Lotus and Virgin had more experienced drivers during the whole season. I think that in testing we showed quite a good performance in relation to the other new teams."
HRT used four drivers in 2010, with Austrian Christian Klien and Japan's Sakon Yamamoto bringing in important funds later on after Brazilian Bruno Senna and Indian Karun Chandhok started the season.
Lotus had former race winners Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen as their line-up. Hispania's future is shrouded in uncertainty, the team seeking backers while also trying to build their own car after deals fell through with chassis makers Dallara and potential partners Toyota.
The team have yet to announce any drivers for 2011. "We are working to have a better package than last year," Kolles said when asked what was being done. "From my point of view, the season was not as good as we would have liked it to be in terms of performance and this has to improve. Obviously this depends on a lot of factors but we are working to achieve our goals." Kolles said the main objectives were to stabilise the team and improve performance.
Comments
0 comment