Saturday: HRT focused on race preparation
The HRT drivers come out satisfied with the qualifying, even if they couldn't really compete with the Marussia. However, the Spanish team focused on the race and suffered in qualifying from a reduction in aerodynamic downforce caused by the need to create openings in the bodywork to prevent the mechanics from overheating.
Pedro de la Rosa – 23rd and 23rd:
« I think it was a good qualifying session. I’m happy because, step by step, we are improving. Today, we managed to get under one minute twenty-five and we overcame the tire overheating issues. We were able to push and, objectively, this is our place.
The Hungaroring is a circuit that I really like and it brings back good memories, but we have to be realistic, tomorrow’s race will be tough. It’s a circuit similar to Monaco, so overtaking won’t be easy. We have a car that is pretty good with the tires and that’s the most important thing.
We have to approach the race fully motivated and focused because it’s very long and physically demanding for the driver due to the heat, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Narain Karthikeyan – 24th and 24th:
In the morning, I managed to make the most of the time available to us and drive consistently. Given today’s high temperatures, the car was overheating a bit, so we had to make some openings in the body, which caused us to lose a bit of downforce. It cost us a few tenths, but we made a huge effort, and I am satisfied with having given everything I could.
There is a lot of work to do for tomorrow and it will be a difficult race, but we are ready to face the challenge.
