Four is a crowd at Hispania Racing

Hispania Racing driver line-up: Sakon Yamamoto, Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna and Christian Klien

Jul.19 (Phillip Horton) The story of Hispania Racing begins, well, you could say in 1997. But it actually began in early 2009 when Adrian Campos’ dream of entering his team into Formula One became a reality. In March 2009, the team gained shareholders such as Spanish businessman José Ramón Carabante and NBA superstar Pau Gasol and Jorge Garbajosa.

Bruno Senna at the Campos Meta factory early on

The team’s headquarters were to be based at Meta Image’s offices in Madrid with the technical centre remaining in Valencia. They were officially announced as an F1 team on June 12th and in October, the team completed a deal with the local government of the Region of Murcia to build new facilities for the team at the Parque Tecnológico Fuente Álamo science park. By the end of the season, Campos already had one driver signed and many thought it to be quite a good deal.

At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the nephew of triple champion Ayrton Senna – Bruno Senna – was announced as a driver for the 2010 season. He had impressed when testing the Honda RA108 in November 2008 and many felt that he should have been on the 2009 grid, rather than driving in the Le Mans Series. The team also said that Dallara would design and build the car so towards the end of 2009; it looked like Campos would easily make the grid and would be competitive at that.

But around Christmas time, the wheels started to fall off the wagon. F1’s ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone voiced his concerns over the team’s ability to make the first race in Bahrain – a race that was now only 2.5 months away. No news is usually good news, but the silence from Campos indicated that there were issues. Granted, they weren’t as large as those faced by USF1 but there was an increasing pressure by many that the place should have been given to Stefan GP.

Boss of the now defunct A1GP looked to invest in Campos Meta when money dried up

During January, Tony Teixiera – the A1GP principal – was linked to a buy-out of the team but following the collapse of the ‘World Cup of Motorsport’, many in the F1 paddock objected to him becoming part of the fraternity. With Lotus and Virgin arriving on the scene and being 3 or 4 seconds a lap slower than the established teams, Campos’ hopes were starting to look even bleaker. There was now no way that they were going to make the winter testing sessions. On February 5th, Adrian Campos confirmed that the team was struggling financially and that they still had around £6m to pay Dallara.

But suddenly, the team was saved before it had even started its first race. On February 19, it was announced that majority shareholder José Ramón Carabante had taken over full control of the team from Adrián Campos. Carabante replaced Campos with Colin Kolles – who was once team principal of Jordan, Midland and then Spyker.

Hispania Racing F1 Team launch in Murcia

The team was re-named to Hispania Racing F1 Team (HRT for short) with the name taken from Grupo Hispania, one of Carabante’s companies. The team’s headquarters were moved from Meta Image’s offices Madrid to Grupo Hispania’s offices in Murcia. On March 4, Karun Chandhok was confirmed as the team’s second driver. The team launched their Cosworth-powered, Dallara-designed car later that day and it was called the F110. At its launch, the car looked sleek and the drivers were optimistic that they could take the fight to Lotus and Virgin, despite no winter testing.

The car debuted during first practice in Bahrain, but Senna was only able to complete three installation laps. In the afternoon session, Senna was 11 seconds off the pace – a large amount of time which was exacerbated by the fact that the circuit took around 2 minutes for the front runners to complete, rather than the usual 90 seconds.

Karun Chandhok's debut ended in the Bahrain barriers

Karun Chandhok on the other hand was having an awful time. As a rookie, he would have wanted lots of time to prepare. As it was, the first time he drove the F110 was in qualifying. He did a good job to get within 1.7s of Senna, who was ‘only’ 8 seconds slower than Vettel’s pole lap. Both cars started from the pits and as predicted, both cars retired. But Senna’s race lasted 18 laps, more than many though it would.

Australia was a much improved performance though. Senna’s qualifying time was only 0.34s slower than Virgin’s Lucas di Grassi, whilst Chandhok finished the race in 14th place, albeit last and 5 laps down. Never mind though, the car made it to the finish after a difficult 58 laps. It was a sign of progress that was consolidated with a double finish in Malaysia and China.

Bruno Senna on the grid in Barcelona

But what was interesting was the fact that HRT were performing much better than many thought. In fact, their pace was starting to embarrass Virgin, who had much more money, sponsors and had completed winter testing. One advantage HRT did have was good reliability. In 10 races, Chandhok has been classified 8 times and one of the retirements was a crash.

So HRT have been tootling along throughout the season, usually propping up the rear of the grid and showing a few signs of progress.

But what does the future hold?

Well the saga at the British Grand Prix continues to rumble on. Sakon Yamamoto replaced Senna, but for different reasons than were initially thought. Yamamoto was due to replace Chandhok after the Indian was late with payments but Senna reportedly sent an email complaining about Colin Kolles to the Brazilian media… but then accidentally sent it to Kolles.

Colin Kolles Hispania Racing team principal

At the best of times, the Romanian hardly looks like the sort of character you would want to irritate. So Senna was replaced as a form of disciplinary action but now the team had been given a cash injection of around £1.5m from Sakon Yamamoto. It would be difficult to accept the cash and only give the Japanese driver one race.

Subsequently, Chandhok has now been dropped for Yamamoto and Senna returns to the car for Hockenheim. Chandhok stepped aside so that the team could take advantage of the cash which is desperately needed, but his comments indicate that he and Yamamoto might be sharing the seat for the remainder of 2010. Senna on the other hand, looks relatively secure. The issue has been further complicated by Christian Klien this week by saying that he might drive the car later in the year. Anyone else want a seat?

Geoff Willis oversees the Hispania Racing pit garage

In terms of the technical side, the team dispensed of Dallara a few months ago as they were disgusted with the F110. A bit harsh, seeing as Dallara was repeatedly mucked about by Campos and was obviously not too willing to make a huge effort into designing a world beater. The team has Geoff Willis on their side and he has been critical of the F110 and cannot believe some of the decisions Dallara made. He will design the 2011 car.

But credit has to go to the ordinary people of the operation: the mechanics. They have worked tirelessly to improve the F110 and it has improved. But with the huge upgrades in Formula One, it still looks as if HRT are lagging far behind, despite dramatically improving the car. Can the team make it in 2011? They should do, but the drivers may be picked on who can pay the most. For Senna and Chandhok it would be a shame – two capable drivers who are unable to exploit their talents.

It is pretty obvious that the team are struggling financially, but can they continue? F1 wouldn’t want to lose a team, even if they are at the back.

They’ve had a troubled birth and for HRT, the storm is far from over.