[Team] Campos Meta rebranded - now is Hispania Racing

[p-matt]

It's great it looks like they will make it, but the fact they have had no preparation is obviously an issue. I wonder if their plan is to have Chandhok and Senna for now but drop one of them and bring a new driver (maybe Lopez or Valles) in order to avail of the rookie day of testing...

I wuldn't have thought a professional F1 team would do that, but desperate times and all that

[Born Racer]

Most of all I am pleased to see Bruno Senna finally confirmed

Yes. From his junior formulae record, Bruno is more than just a name. In fact, when I see talk of Senna regarding Bruno, I no longer automatically associate the name with Ayrton (however much he will always remain an F1 great). To my mind, Bruno's his own man already. He also seems very mature when dealing with the inevitable media frenzy. He has such a tough task, but I believe he will do well. How much will his lack of racing experience hold him back over his career? I think he could well overcome it.

Re: Chandhok, have Force India missed a trick? I know Vijay Mallya said that they wouldn't have an Indian driver for the sake of it, and credit to them for that, but I thought it was their intention longer-term. Maybe they will see how he goes and have him sometime in the future.

[jab]

Force India turned him down, didn't want to know. He has been in their simulator but they went for Hildebrand over him for the young driver test

[Fox89]

I think the car looks really nice

Fo' rizzle? Well, I certainly didn't like the livery. You know that horrible thick grey you get when you mix loads of different paints together? It's that, and it looks bloody awful I think.

Still! at least they're on the grid. I'll get over ugly livery once it has some mroe sponsors on and is blasting around Bahrain at very fast speeds, although not quite as fast as everyone else

[strider]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Yes. From his junior formulae record, Bruno is more than just a name. In fact, when I see talk of Senna regarding Bruno, I no longer automatically associate the name with Ayrton (however much he will always remain an F1 great). To my mind, Bruno's his own man already. He also seems very mature when dealing with the inevitable media frenzy. He has such a tough task, but I believe he will do well. How much will his lack of racing experience hold him back over his career? I think he could well overcome it.

I think and hope you're right. Bruno is very much his own man. He is taller than Ayton was and less intense, but, as you say, has developed his own personality and is very well rounded.

As for the driving, he has faced a steep learning curve ever since he started in cars and this will be the steepest yet. There may be a hiccup or two along the way, but no one expects miracles in the circumstances.

[Born Racer]

There may be a hiccup or two along the way, but no one expects miracles in the circumstances.

The lack of expectations will at least mean less pressure, but I just hope the team is up to scratch. Dallara have a fine pedigree at least.

Perhaps he would have faced more pressure at Brawn last year. It's interesting to imagine how he would have got on. Would he have won races? Even Barrichello only won two.

[JeremySmith]

Paint...I like paint... it's just colour after all..

[steve_r]

Menopause F1?

Are they going to have the presenters of "Loose Women" to hold the umbrellas?

Seriously though, it's nice to actually see that they actually have a car. Can they test it, or are they not allowed to even give it a shake down before the first race?

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Seriously though, it's nice to actually see that they actually have a car. Can they test it, or are they not allowed to even give it a shake down before the first race?

Is there even time to do a shakedown? I was under the impression they pretty much had to send their cars off to Bahrain asap in order to make it on time.

What concerns me the most is whether or not they are sending along enough spare parts to fix any problems that are bound to arise come first practice.

[Javi]

The car looks really unfinished, with very little detail. I am sure they have rushed the presentation to be able to just show up in bahrein, but if you look at, for example, the front wing, it looks like a mock up. i like it because it is very clean, but of you take a look at, for example, the Lotus or Virgin, they have far more elaborated shapes in their cars. Also, it looks at the coke bottle part, it does not look as "sculpted"...
i may be wrong, but it seems they will be facing really hard times. If Lotus and Virgin are 4-5 seconds off the pace..., how much for Hispania? anyhow, kudos for them just for trying so hard to get the cars to bahrein. Good luck!

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by Javi

The car looks really unfinished, with very little detail. I am sure they have rushed the presentation to be able to just show up in bahrein, but if you look at, for example, the front wing, it looks like a mock up. i like it because it is very clean, but of you take a look at, for example, the Lotus or Virgin, they have far more elaborated shapes in their cars. Also, it looks at the coke bottle part, it does not look as "sculpted"...
i may be wrong, but it seems they will be facing really hard times. If Lotus and Virgin are 4-5 seconds off the pace..., how much for Hispania? anyhow, kudos for them just for trying so hard to get the cars to bahrein. Good luck!

I tend to agree but even so making Bahrain will be a major achievement for them however dire their performance, from there they can try to develop and pick up reliability and pace during the year. It may not be the ideal first season but so much better than being another USF1. I for one will cheer for them even if they run out of reliability and spares before the grid forms up for the start, I hope they make it through the year and into 2011 which I'm sure will be better if they do.

[nobster]

Hope Bruno can show that he deserves a much better seat than all the other new drivers this year.

[ukaskew]

Originally Posted by Javi

If Lotus and Virgin are 4-5 seconds off the pace..., how much for Hispania? anyhow, kudos for them just for trying so hard to get the cars to bahrein.

Does F1 have a rule that cars must qualify within a certain percentage of the fastest lap, as many club series have?

[ECW Dan Selby]

Well I raised this question, but a few people seem to think the old 107% rule is still abolished.

Selby

[Fox89]

Originally Posted by ECW Dan Selby

Well I raised this question, but a few people seem to think the old 107% rule is still abolished.

Selby

I don't recall seeing anything about the 107% rule in this years regulations, though that could just be my memory being it's usual crappy self!

[Phoenix1]

Maybe Marshall's can ban cars if they deem them unsafe i.e. a danger as to slow? Never marshalled and not read Charlies hand book but I am sure someone will at least know local level even rules.

[gregc]

From the regs:

36.2 a) The grid will be drawn up as follows :
i) The last eight positions will be occupied by the cars eliminated during Q1, the fastest in 19th
position.
ii) The next eight positions will be occupied by the cars eliminated during Q2, the fastest in 11th
position.
iii) The top ten positions will be occupied by the cars which took part in Q3, the fastest from the
position on the grid which was the pole position in the previous year or, on a new circuit, has
been designated as such by the FIA safety delegate.
If two or more drivers set identical times during Q1, Q2 or Q3 priority will be given to the one who set it
first.
If less than 26 cars are entered in the Championship appropriate amendments will be made to the above in
accordance with Article 33.1.

b) If more than one driver fails to set a time during Q1, Q2 or Q3 they will be arranged in the following
order :
i) any driver who attempted to set a qualifying time by starting a flying lap ;
ii) any driver who failed to start a flying lap ;
iii) any driver who failed to leave the pits during the period.

c) Once the grid has been established in accordance with a) and b) above, grid position penalties will be
applied to the drivers in question in the order the offences were committed. If more than one driver
incurs a penalty under Article 28.4a) or Article 28.6a) preference will be given to the driver whose
team first informed the technical delegate that an engine or gearbox change will be carried out.

d) Any driver who incurs a penalty under Article 28.4c) will take precedence over any driver whose
qualifying times have been deleted for any reason.
If more than one driver falls into a single category in b) or d) above they will be arranged on the grid in
numerical order.

There is no 107% rule.

[ECW Dan Selby]

I suppose if HRT are what's deemed dangerously off the pace then the stewards will act accordingly.

I guess that'd be the sensible way of doing things rather than putting unnecessary pressure on to be in the 107%.

Selby

[jab]

Well Ide was nearly 8 seconds off the pace in Q1 in Bahrain. Longer circuit this time but that will still be the target for the Hormones, I think

[ECW Dan Selby]

Jesus, that much?! That's awful lol

Yeh I'm expecting around about 8-9 seconds off the pace. Just aslong as that car doesn't pack in, even if they can limp around and get some mileage that'd be a huge achievement.

Who knows, if you have some retirements, one of the new teams could nick a point..

Selby

[chillibowl]

hopefully after a few races they can close the gap, but if it is around 8-9 sec/lap and consistently stays there at what point do we start considering them to be part of a different formula than the rest of the grid?

[Sodemo]

Senna has come out and said that he believes that their car will be one second a lap faster than Virgin and Lotus without any testing. I fear those words may come back to haunt him.

[jab]

He may be right, though. If Dallara have based the design on the GP2 and IndyCars, then they may benefit, because the Lotus and Virgin are both clean sheet designs

[Sodemo]

Who is doing the chassis development for HRT, are they doing it themselves now that Dallara have handed over the chassis or are Dallara doing R&D throughout the year to supply updates etc?

[ss_collins]

Dallara is doing all that