The HRT thread

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 20 Nov 2012, 13:59

Klon wrote:With Mesquida behind it, the team would obviously not renamed, but "Wurz Grand Prix" would have such a Ligier-esque feeling to it.

I would like that. More teams should be named after their owners.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 20 Nov 2012, 14:37

I can totally see this come Melbourne 2013:

solarcold · Post by **solarcold** » 20 Nov 2012, 15:19

Who is Naraian Karthikeyan? Never heard of this guy before.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 20 Nov 2012, 15:33

solarcold wrote:Who is Naraian Karthikeyan? Never heard of this guy before.

The original photo is here:
http://3rdeyelens.blogspot.se/2011/07/m ... ay_13.html

Apparently HRT misspelled his name last season :lol:

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 21 Nov 2012, 05:51

pi314159 wrote:Wurz buying HRT would make sense, as he already tried entering in 2010 with a team called Superfund.

Yes, and when he did, he actually had backing from Superfund, which is an Austrian financial investment firm of some kind. So I suspect that Wurz might have a backer, or is looking to get a backer, this time around. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he is the face of a Chinese-led buy-out.

I find the combination of Wurz and Mesquida and interesting one. Wurz is a former driver, and has served as a "driver mentor" at Williams. So he's been both a racer and (semi-formal) manager, and would be well-suited to running the day-to-day operations of the team.

Mesquida, on the other hand, is considerably harder to pin down. His Twitter profile says he is a media consultant for Formula 1, which could mean anything. I don't know who employs him - be it FOM, or the Spanish broadcasters, or whoever - but he certainly seems to have connections within the paddock. And given that he was sending birthday messages to Mrs. Wurz, he's clearly friendly with them.

If I was looking to buy a team or start one up, then people like Wurz and Mesquida would be high on my list of people to get. If they are indeed trying to buy out a team, then I'm willing to bet that they have a backer (they'd never be able to buy the team without one). Given the increasing connections between HRT and Ma Qinghua, I'm willing to bet that Wurz and Mesquida are trying to acquire the team on behald of Chinese investors.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 21 Nov 2012, 06:12

Maybe Wurz will field himself Pentecost-style!

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 21 Nov 2012, 08:02

Doubt it. Jacques Villeneuve talked up the idea of racing for a team at the same time as managing it when he was putting together a bid for the thirteenth grid slot (with uncompetitive GP2 team Durango and one of Qaddafi's sons), and it was generally considered to be a ridiculous idea.

No, if Wurz and Mesquida are looking to buy HRT - and assuming they're looking to buy it on behalf of Chinese investors - then Ma Qinghua would be a shoe-in for the second seat. And Pedro de la Rosa would probably keep his drive, for the sake of developing the car.

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 21 Nov 2012, 10:32

De La Rosa is also pretty good friends with Wurz from McLaren testing days.

Whats F1 Enigma like? Reliable?

eagleash · Post by **eagleash** » 21 Nov 2012, 16:50

James Allen on Twitter wrote: Colleagues in Spain telling me HRT HQ is closing, all staff have redundancy notices. Sounds like that's it for them. 11 teams in 2013?

Not sounding promising

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 21 Nov 2012, 17:37

What is with Alexander Wurz? Or should I say Ernst Stavro Wurz. Or rather, Alexander Blofeld.

It seems he is planning on conquering the world at the moment. Some say he has connections with powerful people
within the illuminati.
I am actually putting myself at great risk even posting this. But I have taken proper precautions.

In 2006, Wurz claimed he would buy the A1-ring circuit and have it renovated, but the idea never came to fruition.
Apparently his backers withdrew interest when Alex proposed torture chambers be built underneath the pit area.

So instead he made a race comeback with AT&T Williams in 2007, only to finish on the podium in Montreal.
He took advantage of this opportunity, and during the press conference after the race, he secretly
let his illuminati brethren know that it was time to launch an attack by sea at the coast of San Francisco, U.S.A.

Here is the press conference transcript:
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/6/6261.html

And note Wurz's comment towards the end, when most of the journalists and TV stations had already left the room:

we have 1049 people dying in traffic accidents every day around the world and that is too many

He really says that! Clearly some kind of coded message. Take a look for yourselves.

Now, he had already made subtle hints during the race that they should be prepared to set out on their mission.
The race took place on the 10th of June. And on lap 49, Alex was in 11th place but moved up
to 10th when Takuma Sato fell back in the order. All this is 100% true! Just have a look at the race statistics yourselves.
It's official.

I actually believe that Sato might have been in on the scheme from the beginning. Because when he
made Wurz go up to 10th, he then got some illuminati activated extra power in his Super Aguri to overtake Alonso
with three laps to go. Takuma later ended up with 10 kms led and 0.49 pts / GP when his F1 career was over.
These are scary numbers indeed. Not made up.

And look at Sato's Indycar stats:

I'm anxiously looking over my shoulder right now while typing this, because what I am about to show you is a highly top secret photograph that I
acquired from a rouge agent earlier this year:

This is Alexander Wurz, pre-Canada 2007 season, inspecting the cannon on his war ship. God only knows what is in those boxes.
VX gas warheads? Look how many followers he has.

This is the ship, cleverly disguised as an American ship, that was supposed to attack San Fran.
However, there seemed to have been a major malfunction that day, the 10th of June, 2007.
The rouge agent gave me his thoughts on it, and he said that the ship must have been sabotaged by someone who wanted out of the
illuminati group and also held a grudge towards Wurz.

Flavio?
Whoever it was, he is a hero. He might just have saved thousands of lives.
________________________________________________________________

Much later, Wurz lodged an entry for his own team into Formula One (announced on May 31, 2009), but the application was unsuccessful. Team Superfund was one of several new applicants hoping to compete in the sport from the 2010 season onwards. It was believed that Wurz would prefer to align the team with an existing constructor based in the UK, perhaps renting space, facilities and staff from its factory, while Superfund takes time to build-up its own headquarters, possibly based on existing resources in Austria.The team would have been funded by Christian Baha, the owner of the Superfund Group, and the cars would be powered by Cosworth engines. Apparently, Wurz's plan was to lease 49 engines for the entire year.

Exactly what attacks Wurz had planned for this year is still unknown. Ever since his war ship broke down, he has kept a low profile.
Until now.

Now I hear he wants to purchase HRT!

Obviously he has gotten more funds. Bigger, better war ships?
Surely more security, more loyal people surrounding him, making it harder for defectors to sabotage
his fleet.
But what is he planning to do? Invade a country in Asia perhaps?

The numbers are certainly there, Wurz's evil numbers. HRT debuted in 2010.
And if you take HRT's Caja Mágica facilities 11,000 m², and divide that with 49, then add 49, you end up with 273.
That is exactly how fast Vitantonio Liuzzi went at the speed trap in km/h, driving the HRT-Cosworth during Practice 1 at the Monaco Grand Prix 2011.
Link:
http://www.formula1.com/results/season/ ... _trap.html
Staggering.

And what about combining the alphabet with Wurz's mysterious code that is 1049?
10 = J, 4 = D, and 9 = I.

JDI? What could Wurz mean by this?

My rouge agent source has suggested:
Judgment Day Imminent.

Holy!

So 2012 is true? Alexander Wurz will be the one who ends the world on 21 December, 2012?

For those of you who don't know:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon

The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on 21 December 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.

I just never thought Wurz would be the one.

Post by **Londoner** » 21 Nov 2012, 17:47

I think dinizintheoven has competition for Post Of The Year. :lol:

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 21 Nov 2012, 18:07

Jocke1, you have made my day :lol:

Post by **Nuppiz** » 21 Nov 2012, 18:13

East Londoner wrote:I think dinizintheoven has competition for Post Of The Year.

I agree.

Post by **mario** » 21 Nov 2012, 18:37

eagleash wrote:
James Allen on Twitter wrote: Colleagues in Spain telling me HRT HQ is closing, all staff have redundancy notices. Sounds like that's it for them. 11 teams in 2013?

Not sounding promising

That sounds fairly terminal, although not entirely surprising given the recent bad news (some are claiming that the only people left at HRT are the mechanics and engineers required to run the cars in Brazil and that the team ).

The biggest problem is that, even if a last gasp solution keeps the team alive for 2013, others have pointed out that would only really save the team for a year. The rule changes planned for 2014 would require a substantial shift in design philosophy and a completely new car, whilst the sharp increase in engine supply costs (and bear in mind that HRT's current contract with Cosworth only lasts until 2013, so they'd need to find a new supplier for 2014) is causing enough concerns for the larger, wealthier, midfield teams, let alone a team like HRT that's operating on half the budget (if that).

noiceinmydrink · Post by **noiceinmydrink** » 21 Nov 2012, 18:40

@Jocke1 That might be the best thing I have ever read in my life. Kudos to you, sir.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 22 Nov 2012, 00:09

Well, i quickly searched 1049 on google, and i found that 104,9 is the frequency of some radio channel called Virgin FM...

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 22 Nov 2012, 00:46

I added a small paragraph above which I felt needed to be there, just in case I would disappear.
Have any of you guys had a look at Wurz's website btw? I went there, and this is what I saw:

Sorry for going just a little bit off-topic here.

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 22 Nov 2012, 01:27

Jocke1, that was simply brilliant :lol:

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 22 Nov 2012, 10:14

mario wrote:
eagleash wrote:
James Allen on Twitter wrote: Colleagues in Spain telling me HRT HQ is closing, all staff have redundancy notices. Sounds like that's it for them. 11 teams in 2013?

Not sounding promising

That sounds fairly terminal, although not entirely surprising given the recent bad news (some are claiming that the only people left at HRT are the mechanics and engineers required to run the cars in Brazil and that the team ).

The biggest problem is that, even if a last gasp solution keeps the team alive for 2013, others have pointed out that would only really save the team for a year. The rule changes planned for 2014 would require a substantial shift in design philosophy and a completely new car, whilst the sharp increase in engine supply costs (and bear in mind that HRT's current contract with Cosworth only lasts until 2013, so they'd need to find a new supplier for 2014) is causing enough concerns for the larger, wealthier, midfield teams, let alone a team like HRT that's operating on half the budget (if that).

Optimistically, it could be that there is a buyer, but they essentially want just a shell of a team (entry, intellectual rights on the design, Cosworth contract) because they want to set the team up elsewhere. Don't see it, but it's possible.

Surely only supplying one team (Marussia) next season will be bad for Cosworth, financially? They re-entered with a guaranteed 3 teams to supply, and I seem to remember them saying that they could only afford an F1 program if they were supplying 3 teams?

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 22 Nov 2012, 10:19

This wrote:Well, i quickly searched 1049 on google, and i found that 104,9 is the frequency of some radio channel called Virgin FM...

104.9 Triple M Sydney's where it's at, mate.

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 22 Nov 2012, 10:28

This wrote:Well, i quickly searched 1049 on google, and i found that 104,9 is the frequency of some radio channel called Virgin FM...

Does this mean that Wurz was interested in joining the Virgin team for 2010?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 22 Nov 2012, 11:04

Is it time for a sayonara HRT page?

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 22 Nov 2012, 11:32

DanielPT wrote:Is it time for a sayonara HRT page?

Not yet. We still have nearly two weeks until the 2nd December.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 22 Nov 2012, 11:35

pi314159 wrote:
DanielPT wrote:Is it time for a sayonara HRT page?

Not yet. We still have nearly two weeks until the 2nd December.

Unfortunately I am not that positive about it. Given all the signs, it will be really hard to save the team. Two weeks seems a short time to buy an F1 team.

cbbcisace · Post by **cbbcisace** » 22 Nov 2012, 13:09

@GregoryHainesF1: @lundo88 Reports are saying the team might disappear soon but let's just say I don't see that happening

Minardi Man · Post by **Minardi Man** » 22 Nov 2012, 16:45

DanielPT wrote:
pi314159 wrote:
DanielPT wrote:Is it time for a sayonara HRT page?

Not yet. We still have nearly two weeks until the 2nd December.

Unfortunately I am not that positive about it. Given all the signs, it will be really hard to save the team. Two weeks seems a short time to buy an F1 team.

I hope they find a buyer, HRT shutting down would be the worst birthday ever for me.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 23 Nov 2012, 03:41

Another note:
HRT's theoretical numbers next year will be 24 and 25. (24 + 25 = 49.)
Wurz drove the #10 for McLaren in 2005. 20/5 is 4, 2 + the number of zeros (2) + 5 = 9. Altogether, 1049.

If anyone is looking for me on December 21st, i'm in my bunker.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 23 Nov 2012, 06:15

cbbcisace wrote:@GregoryHainesF1: @lundo88 Reports are saying the team might disappear soon but let's just say I don't see that happening

At this point, I don't think anyone really knows what is going on.

cbbcisace · Post by **cbbcisace** » 23 Nov 2012, 08:31

Captain Hammer wrote:
cbbcisace wrote:@GregoryHainesF1: @lundo88 Reports are saying the team might disappear soon but let's just say I don't see that happening

At this point, I don't think anyone really knows what is going on.

The only thing I would say to that is that Greg Haines has some insider info, he was the first one to broadcast about Ma not being guaranteed 2nd driver next season.

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 23 Nov 2012, 10:37

Or maybe he just knows someone who speaks Mandarin, and so got the reports that Ma was "joining HRT" translated before anyone else, thereby demonstrating that they were misunderstood by the Western media/

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 23 Nov 2012, 10:56

Just want to note that Joe Saward, who recently have been getting some right (for instance, the Coca-Cola sponsorship), is completely convinced that HRT will die a horrible death after this GP. Of course, one should take that with a pinch of salt since he clearly dislikes the team (They laid off Liuzzi, remember?).

Captain Hammer · Post by **Captain Hammer** » 23 Nov 2012, 23:14

Saward only gets half marks for the Coca-Cola sponsorship.

Although he did predict that they would enter the sport in some capacity, and that they would do it in such a way that they could try and challenge Red Bull's dominance in the energy drink sector, he said that the most likely way for them to do this was to acquire Monster Energy and then back Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton.

solarcold · Post by **solarcold** » 23 Nov 2012, 23:20

There's that #SaveHRT campaign on Twitter + petition by Antonio Mesquida that has already gathered 1100+ signs during this day only.

S951 · Post by **S951** » 23 Nov 2012, 23:22

don't know how many of you are on f1tech & twittor but there is a member on there thats on twittor as well v knowledgeable on all things tech wise, going by what he has said f112 is to much of a compromise this year and if they went and did what they needed to do on the f111 to make it legal would of been in a better position

reading deeper in to it the guy who is looking into this buy out with wurz est needs 50million just for next seasion but over will need 150 over next 2 seasons to bring things to a more normal ish level ie staff, equip, design, production etc

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 25 Nov 2012, 01:29

East Londoner wrote:I think dinizintheoven has competition for Post Of The Year.

Right. Brain in gear. Jocke1 clearly had a Timo Glock in Singapore moment; it cannot be allowed to happen again. Arise, Heikki, and score that point for Caterham... meanwhile, remind yourselves of Vitalysforhires coming close in... was it Valencia, before he was knocked out?

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 25 Nov 2012, 06:24

Okay, crystal ball says Brazil race will be raining non stop, with 5 laps to go, Kovalainen running 10th suffers a gearbox problem, elevating Pedro de la Rosa to 10th place, with that HRT leaping both Caterham and Marussia to 10th place.

With that extra money comming in, buyer is found and team will continue next year. de la Rosa stays on, with Senna re-joining team with his vital Brazilian cash, and Clos/Ma sharing Friday duties again.

Well, I think thats what will happen!

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 25 Nov 2012, 08:48

dinizintheoven wrote:
East Londoner wrote:I think dinizintheoven has competition for Post Of The Year.

I love that comic... :lol:

David AGS wrote:Okay, crystal ball says Brazil race will be raining non stop, with 5 laps to go, Kovalainen running 10th suffers a gearbox problem, elevating Pedro de la Rosa to 10th place, with that HRT leaping both Caterham and Marussia to 10th place.

With that extra money comming in, buyer is found and team will continue next year. de la Rosa stays on, with Senna re-joining team with his vital Brazilian cash, and Clos/Ma sharing Friday duties again.

Well, I think thats what will happen!

YES. PLEASE.

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 25 Nov 2012, 13:31

Apparently, HRT need a buyer in two weeks or it's all over as they wouldn't even be able to pay the entry fee for 2013. Not looking good.

cbbcisace · Post by **cbbcisace** » 25 Nov 2012, 15:17

@ AndyBonoF1: The owner of TV3 KH7 ensures that HRT next year could be a Spanish-Chinese team with Ma Qing Hua at the wheel .... :-)

# F1

Gerudo Dragon · Post by **Gerudo Dragon** » 25 Nov 2012, 18:33

HRT leaves F1 with both cars finishing, good job lads.