F1: HRTs Not Allowed To Start In Australia

Formula 1

F1: HRTs Not Allowed To Start In Australia

A tough weekend in Australia has ended in disappointment for HRT...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted March 17, 2012 Melbourne (AUS)

HRT driver Narain Karthikeyan won't start the Australian GP. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

The FIA has confirmed that neither Pedro de la Rosa nor Narain Karthikeyan will be allowed to start the Australian GP under the 107 percent rule, despite the HRT team requesting dispensation for “exceptional circumstances.”

After running very few laps in practice, both drivers managed to record respectable times – de la Rosa was just over 1.2s outside the margin – but that wasn’t deemed to be good enough.

Team boss Luis Perez Sala said: “It’s obvious that we still have a lot of work ahead to be where we should be and even more to improve on that potential, but today was the first time we were able to complete both sessions with both cars, and that is positive.

“Although today wasn’t the result we desired, we’ve fixed some of yesterday’s issues and were able to spot out the weakest points. Now we can work on them and find a solution. These solutions aren’t immediate but with every day and every session we’re in better conditions. Time is precious and next week in Malaysia we’ll have another four sessions to prepare for the next race.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.