The HRT thread

[flyerguy]

Close enough to portuguese so I can understand it clearly.

Maratoria is when someone declares that he will not pay a debt. In this context it means that FIA will grant the team a week to find somebody to buy the team after it has not payed some debt. Probably the entry fee.
The catch is that it was used "esta semana", which means "this week" and not "an extra week". This can mean that they have just till Sunday (or Saturday, depends on the calendar that FIA uses...) to find a buyer.
The way it is written indicates an unofficial information.

"@HRTF1Team se van a dar de plazo esta semana para venderlo con la moratoria de la FIA". #LaF1NoPara"
"[FIA] is going to grant [the owners] this week to sell @HRTF1Team after they declared that they are not going not pay FIA. #TheF1Don'tStops"

[AdrianSutil]

Twitter reports are saying everyone is out of a job on Monday morning. Which means HRT will cease to exist in under 72 hours.

[Jocke1]

Which means HRT will cease to exist in under 72 hours.

I BELIEVE IN HRT.

[GwilymJJames]

4 years ago I suggested to a friend to make a F1 team. Today after 3 seasons he has written the last page of HRT. LUCK FRIENDS

(via Google translate)

And that, I believe, is that.

[Jocke1]

4 years ago I suggested to a friend to make a F1 team. Today after 3 seasons he has written the last page of HRT. LUCK FRIENDS

(via Google translate)

And that, I believe, is that.

Tragic.

[cbbcisace]

some very angry ex HRT mechanics!

@ Thenessman: @ matthew_fellows This is a distortion of the facts TOTAL, NO race team mechanics, Were 1. Drunk and 2. Fighting. It's a Spanish set up.

@ Matthew_fellows: @ thenessman I agree totally or was it a huge coincidence Were the police already in the car park outside the gate waiting for our arrival

The FIA & Bernie want 24 cars so its seems nearly official HRT have gone, does a new team take their entry? even that looks unlikely...

[mario]

some very angry ex HRT mechanics!

@ Thenessman: @ matthew_fellows This is a distortion of the facts TOTAL, NO race team mechanics, Were 1. Drunk and 2. Fighting. It's a Spanish set up.

@ Matthew_fellows: @ thenessman I agree totally or was it a huge coincidence Were the police already in the car park outside the gate waiting for our arrival

The FIA & Bernie want 24 cars so its seems nearly official HRT have gone, does a new team take their entry? even that looks unlikely...

Even the prospect of seeing another team enter the sport seems fairly remote right now - bear in mind that, for a start, that there was already room for one more team on the grid this year but nobody tried to tender an application to the FIA given that the previous attempts, like Durango's ill fated attempt, were turned down (the FIA toughened up the entry requirements after the USF1 debacle). With no nominated reserve teams and time running out for the teams to design and build a car ahead of the 2013 season, it looks like the grid is more likely to shrink in 2013 than expand if there is no last minute rescue of the team.

[DemocalypseNow]

Release Vic Lee on parole and let him buy it.

Good old dodgy Vic. He was my boss in the 2001 British Touring Car Championship, when we ran the oversized overweight and old Peugeot 406s. He has another 3 years at Her's Majesty's pleasure.

How many times did he send you over to Zandvoort for testing?

[cbbcisace]

some very angry ex HRT mechanics!

@ Thenessman: @ matthew_fellows This is a distortion of the facts TOTAL, NO race team mechanics, Were 1. Drunk and 2. Fighting. It's a Spanish set up.

@ Matthew_fellows: @ thenessman I agree totally or was it a huge coincidence Were the police already in the car park outside the gate waiting for our arrival

The FIA & Bernie want 24 cars so its seems nearly official HRT have gone, does a new team take their entry? even that looks unlikely...

Even the prospect of seeing another team enter the sport seems fairly remote right now - bear in mind that, for a start, that there was already room for one more team on the grid this year but nobody tried to tender an application to the FIA given that the previous attempts, like Durango's ill fated attempt, were turned down (the FIA toughened up the entry requirements after the USF1 debacle). With no nominated reserve teams and time running out for the teams to design and build a car ahead of the 2013 season, it looks like the grid is more likely to shrink in 2013 than expand if there is no last minute rescue of the team.

Mario I agree, what i heard is that the F113 chassis no1 was half way through manufacture and no2 was 2 months into it too... the cars are there is some form, so its not start from scratch as such.

[cbbcisace]

They ain't on the Entry list, game over guys.

[S951]

RIP HRT

[Backmarker]

Even the prospect of seeing another team enter the sport seems fairly remote right now - bear in mind that, for a start, that there was already room for one more team on the grid this year but nobody tried to tender an application to the FIA given that the previous attempts, like Durango's ill fated attempt, were turned down (the FIA toughened up the entry requirements after the USF1 debacle). With no nominated reserve teams and time running out for the teams to design and build a car ahead of the 2013 season, it looks like the grid is more likely to shrink in 2013 than expand if there is no last minute rescue of the team.

It's a sad state, I like seeing a nice full grid, and I worry that the grid might shrink further. Despite the recent injection of cash, there are always money woes flying around Force India; Marussia are not the richest team on the grid and could struggle; Enstone are a solid team, but Group Lotus' money is not secure, and they are relying heavily on Total's sponsorship. I was hopeful when ART were looking at an entry, but Michelin getting the tyre contract was a key part of their application.

[Klon]

Now crack less than noble hearts; good night sweet HRT and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

[CarlosFerreira]

*removes hat*

'Tis a sad day.

HRT were rejectful, but rejects in this day and age aren't the same as they were in the 20th century. Maybe after the economic woes go away someone will pick up that entry. For now, a heartfelt farewell to Hormone Replacement Therapy, who always did a great job of bringing up the rear and were consistently fast enough to stay out of the way of the safety car.

*put hat back on and walks away*

[CoopsII]

If this really is the end then its a sad day. HRT were the personification of Rejectful-ness in this new age and ticked boxes Caterham and Marussia couldnt.

We may not see their like again, for shame all those who didnt support them.

[Wallio]

You will all hate me for what will surely be a massively unpopular opinion, but to me HRT is no big loss. And before you all go shouting about "the spirit of the website" HRT isn't what IMO F1 Rejects is about. All the teams profiled on this site, and a few others not yet profiled (like Scarab and Super Aguri) gained our love and affection by trying their damnest on a shoestring budget. Which makes times like Sato passing Alonso and Moreno making the grind in Monaco '92 all the more epic. HRT didn't do that. Frankly in my opinion they didn't really try. If they spent half as much time developing their car as they did changing factories (which is both a terrible distraction and huge drain on resources) and running "innovative" marketing based liveries, they would still be here. Most reject teams thrashed the life out of their chasiss, just to miss the 107% rule. HRT missed it (on more than one occasion) because they couldn't even have the cars put together in time. No team (besides Andrea Moda) tried less. In their first year they had literally ZERO development on the cars,running the same front wing the whole year. I can't think of another reject team to do that, even Coloni and Onyx in their dying days made minor enhancements, and hell Lola even had a few new pieces for Brasil.

To me, if you want to believe in a "reject worthy of the site" cheer for Marussia. I do. HRT will be missed, but not in the same way as Super Aguri, or Coloni, et al.

Just my .02 cents of course, and I will know flee from the papayas......

[AndreaModa]

I refuse to change my avatar until I've seen it officially confirmed.

I still believe!

[mario]

I refuse to change my avatar until I've seen it officially confirmed.

I still believe!

The FIA has published the entry list for the 2013 season - available here http://www.fia.com/news/fia-2013-formul ... entry-list - and it does indeed confirm that HRT did not submit any application for the 2013 season. With that, you can effectively take it as read that the team is shutting down - what is the point of having a team if they don't even have the right to compete?
[As an aside, it is also interesting to note which teams did and didn't have their driver line ups for 2013 sorted out back in October (it isn't compulsory to nominate your drivers at the same time as your entry). It is a little peculiar that Toro Rosso didn't nominate either Vergne or Ricciardo when they submitted their entry on the 26th Oct, even though they did confirm they'd be staying on for 2013 less than a week later - it also is somewhat revealing that Williams were surreptitiously kicking Bruno out the door, as they notified the FIA a month before they told anybody else that they would be replacing him with Bottas.]

To me, if you want to believe in a "reject worthy of the site" cheer for Marussia. I do. HRT will be missed, but not in the same way as Super Aguri, or Coloni, et al.

Just my .02 cents of course, and I will know flee from the papayas......

I am can see the logic of your viewpoint - whilst the genesis from which HRT sprung, which was Campos's outfit, might have at least tried to show some enthusiasm for the sport, even if it was hopelessly mismanaged, after it was taken over by Carabantes it became an exercise in preserving his capital (Kolles's treatment of the team was, whilst it kept it going, was pretty rough and ready too, whilst Thesan's intention was equally mercantile). To be fair to the team, they did actually try to bring some upgrades to the car this season, although most of them were not immediately visible (small modifications to the exhausts, a modified floor and diffuser, small tweaks to the rear wing), and they certainly didn't transform the car all that much.

[eytl]

You will all hate me for what will surely be a massively unpopular opinion, but to me HRT is no big loss. And before you all go shouting about "the spirit of the website" HRT isn't what IMO F1 Rejects is about. All the teams profiled on this site, and a few others not yet profiled (like Scarab and Super Aguri) gained our love and affection by trying their damnest on a shoestring budget. Which makes times like Sato passing Alonso and Moreno making the grind in Monaco '92 all the more epic. HRT didn't do that. Frankly in my opinion they didn't really try. If they spent half as much time developing their car as they did changing factories (which is both a terrible distraction and huge drain on resources) and running "innovative" marketing based liveries, they would still be here. Most reject teams thrashed the life out of their chasiss, just to miss the 107% rule. HRT missed it (on more than one occasion) because they couldn't even have the cars put together in time. No team (besides Andrea Moda) tried less. In their first year they had literally ZERO development on the cars,running the same front wing the whole year. I can't think of another reject team to do that, even Coloni and Onyx in their dying days made minor enhancements, and hell Lola even had a few new pieces for Brasil.

To me, if you want to believe in a "reject worthy of the site" cheer for Marussia. I do. HRT will be missed, but not in the same way as Super Aguri, or Coloni, et al.

Just my .02 cents of course, and I will know flee from the papayas......

Interesting. Jamie and I actually had a chat about this topic last night. Although I also haven't found HRT that interesting and worth cheering for, and felt as though they didn't live up to the rejectfulness of past teams, I couldn't really put words to why I felt that way. I think you've summed it up here.

[whatisdeletrazdoing]

I refuse to change my avatar until I've seen it officially confirmed.

I still believe!

Perhaps you can now run a "believe in Kamui Kobayashi" avatar?

[tristan1117]

I think the only truly "rejectful" facets of HRT are their ineffectual management and constant lack of money. In terms of on-track performance, they weren't even that slow and their lack of effort was apparent in most cases. However, the stupid management decisions and lack of a stable financial and physical base makes HRT the "Toyota" of the reject teams. They came and went without any spectacular moments or memorable drivers and unceremoniously left when nobody wanted to buy the team. If we're talking about teams that embody the reject spirit, Stefan F1, USF1 and Marussia are definitely better candidates.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

I don't really consider Marussia to be as rejectful as everyone says they are. I like them though.

[AndreaModa]

I refuse to change my avatar until I've seen it officially confirmed.

I still believe!

Perhaps you can now run a "believe in Kamui Kobayashi" avatar?

Well, considering Pic is still a reject (and probably still will be this time next year if Caterham's form doesn't miraculously improve), and now HRT have gone to the wall, these avatars aren't doing a great job!

But, as Mario and indeed Autosport have confirmed, HRT look to be finished. My support for Marussia is well known, but at the same time I've always had just as much support for HRT, because of the almost never-ending dire straits the team has been in from conception to demise. There was a brief period when they moved into the new factory when we all thought things were starting to look up, but for the vast majority of the time, they've lurched from one disaster to another. It's a real shame to loose a team from F1, and in these times I can't see anyone willing to step up and fill the gap. Maybe the FIA will open up a formal tender process like before at some point in 2013 to get one or two new teams in? I guess we can only hope.

In the meantime, my "believe" campaign will now switch to Kamui Kobayashi, in the hope he finds a seat for 2013! I believe!

[Gerudo Dragon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsx2vdn7gpY

[girry]

For me, the (poor) management does not constitute of a team....imo it certainly was impressive of the team that they actually beat Marussia on occasions with those, ehm, tools they were given. That's why it was reject spirit at purest for me

[James1978]

I'm not bothered at all - it's a shame for PDLR but really he's at retirement age anyway. No great loss having no Karthikeyan either. We'll still be able to enjoy Caterham and Marussia fighting each other at the back if they can't make it into the midfield.

[CarlosFerreira]

Bad for Cosworth, though. Only one team left using their engines.

[Aerospeed]

Bad for Cosworth, though. Only one team left using their engines.

And I don't think Marussia will be putting up with theirs any longer.

[Shadaza]

RIP HRT.

You brought us Karun "encyclopedia" Chandhok. "Food Poisoning", "Spanish Customs," a random return for Christian Klien, Liuzzi attempting to murder half the field in Monza, Karthikeyan running in the points at Malaysia then to be called a cucumber. 4 DNQ's and brake failures applenty.

One question.

Did they ever pay Dallara?

[pasta_maldonado]

It is 5 o'clock in the morning. A large, definately expensive yacht bobs up and down on the crystal blue sea. Land can be seen in the background, but it's anyone's guess as to where this is.

Wait, what do you mean it's 1 o'clock in the afternoon? Bloody watch! Only got it down the market a few weeks ago... Skip to about 1:10 in

Anyway, the sound of a motor humming can be heard, and it is slowly getting louder. What appears to be a smaller motor boat is approaching fast from the direction of the annoyingly unrecognisable land...

*BANG*
The motor boat hit the side of the large yacht, and although no visible damage was caused, you could tell that someone was about to get very pissed off about the incident. A small, angry man began shouting at the Italian-looking man behind the controls of the smaller boat."Ah, ye muppet! You've hit the boat! I don't care if it's your first time driving it, the boss won't be very please-" He looked up towards the deck of the yacht slowly.

Leaning somewhat precariously over the deck of the yacht was a man of shorter stature, in his early sixties, with graying hair, and a pair of sunglasses that were probably found in a loft after disappearing for 30 years. His attire was questionable: A white shirt with blue, yellow, and red flowers on it was the garment of choice, unbuttoned at the collar and rolled up to his elbows. He leant over the edge of the deck and, in an Irish accent, spoke.

"Do you mind not crashing into me boat, I just paid fer it. I should have you fired because of your incompetence, you bloody fools. I should also keep you on as it served as an impromptu alarm call, fer which i should be grateful. Come aboard."

A door in the side of the boat quietly opened, conveniently at the height of the deck of the smaller boat. The two men on the smaller boat stepped aboard the large yacht, into a narrow passageway. The Irish national anthem played as the door shut behind them. On the walls of this passageway were several photographs of the Jordan F1 team, and a broken front wing of a Jordan 193. The Italian-looking pointed to it and said proudly "My father did that!" before being told to shut up by the smaller man, before the pair walked up a set of spiral stairs at the end of the passageway.

The stairs led to the rear deck area of the yacht, which looked out onto the sea behind, out to the horizon. On this deck was a large white sofa, of the kind that are hard and uncomfortable, a coffee table, and a drinks cabinet. Eddie Jordan poured himself a drink, before moving over to the sofa and sitting down next to a pair of lovelies wearing Jordan Grand Prix skin tight all in ones. He beckoned to the two men to come closer.

"What do you want to tell me?"

"Well, it's about Project Jordan, sir." said the smaller man. With that, Eddie leant forward and pressed a large red button on the table, and whispered into the ears of one of the lovelies, who grabbed her mate and walked down the stairs.

"Tell me more"

"Well, sir, the HRT team have just shut down." the smaller man said, shuffling nervously.

"Interesting. Interesting." A whirring sound could be heard, suspicously like a lift, before a clang and the whoosh of a set of doors opening. Eddie tuned around on the sofa to the sight of David Coulthard emerging from a lift amidst a cloud of smoke. He was wearing a black shirt and extremely tight white trousers.

"David, what's with the dry ice?" Eddie said as David sat down awkwardly, presumably trying not to sit on his love spuds in those awfully tight trousers.

"Ah. Reminds me of that time I was superman" said David.

Eddie spoke again to the two men. "You may leave now gentlemen. Thank you."

The two men shuffled nervously over to the set of stairs and descended them, and the muffled tones of the Irish national anthem could be heard again as the two left the yacht.

"So, Eddie, what's happened?" asked David.

"HRT has just gone bust,David, that's what." He downed his drink before continuing. "This is perfect!".

With that, a partition wall encircled the deck, completing enclosing it, as a roof slid over the top, plunging the deck into darkness. The coffee table overturned to reveal a concealed laptop, on which Eddie typed a password. A world map was suddenly projected onto the new wall, with a few red dots scattered about.

"This is my master plan" Eddie continued. "I will buyHRT, enter Formula One,l and lead Jordan to greatness!"

"How?" David asked

"It's simple." Eddie leant down the side of the sofa and produced a large notepad, which was battered and well-used. "With this - Flavio Briatore's dirty tricks."

"How'd you get that?" David asked.

"I asked Nelson Piquet Jnr to do it. Very good sleeper agent he is. Anyway, in here is all kinds of ways to cheat and get away with it." Almost to prove his point, he flicked through the pad, stopping occasionally to read an entry. "Using traction control illegally...Making a team mate crash out...in here is the things I can use to rule Formula One! With you of course David, it's why I invited you here." He walked over towards the drinks cabinet. "I'm experiencing a slight cash flow problem at the moment David, I need your contribution to help me purchase HRT."

"But there is one thing you didn't account for!" said David, in a slight accent.

"What?" said Eddie. The noise of a helicopter was getting louder and louder in the background.

"This." Suddenly, bullets pierced the artificial wall, and embedded themselves into the floor of the deck. The walls and roof began to extract back into the orifice where they came from.

"What the bathplug is this!?!?!" screamed Eddie, as a second round of gunfire hit the deck.

"5 years I ahve waited" began David, as he stood up slowly. "Oh yes. Now it is time!". He now spoke in a definate Austrian accent.

The walls had retracted to reveal a hovering helicopter just above the deck of the yacht. 10 mercenaries jumped out of the helicopter onto the yacht, and pointed their guns at a startled Eddie.

"Why do you think I told you to come here Eddie? Think."

Eddie was too frightened to speak.

"1049 nautical miles away from Yemen! Does that mean anything to you? Does it? No. Let me explain. After my retirement from Formula One in 2007, and my failed attempt to purchase the A1 Ring, I went under cover. I am not who you think you are Eddie. Oh no." The mercenaries continued to point their guns at Eddie, who spoke nervously.

"Then who are you David?"

David laughed. He reached behind the back of his head, and slowly pulled lifted up. The latex mask peeled off to reveal Tiago Monteiro.

"Tiago Monteiro?" Eddie shouted above the noise of the helicopter in disbelief.

"Shite." said Tiago, and reached behind the back of his head, and slowly pulled. The latex mask peeled off to reveal Alex Wurz.

"Oh Bathplug" said Eddie.

"Yes, it is me, Alexander Wurz. Anyway, as I was saying, I needed to go undercover. People had begun to find me out. Suspected me. So, I had David, err, disposed of. I took his place for 3 years and you didn't suspect a thing! You senile sod!."

The mercenaries moved forward, and proceeded to tie Eddie Jordan up.

"Now, my plan to end the world in 2012 will not be completed in time. But, I have a new plan. I will buy HRT and use them as a cover-up to manufacture BDU chips! No one will know!"

"Do you expect me to help?" said a struggling Eddie, before mercenaries placed duct tape over his mouth

"Ah, no Mr. Jordan, not at all. Not at all." said Wurz, as he climbed onto his helicopter. Mercenaries poured petrol all over the deck of the yacht.

"Now, I hope you have a nice holiday! Goodbye!" The mercanaries leapt onto the helicopter as Eddie wriggled onto the floor, his muffled screams unable to be heard by anyone. Wurz calmly and cooly lit a cigarette, before using that to light Eddie's dress thing that he wore live on television for the 2011 Indian Grand Prix. Wurz dropped the burning garment onto the deck of the yacht, and it fluttered in the air before hitting the deck of the yacht.

To be continued...

[Ataxia]

If that was a book, I would totally buy it.

[Jocke1]

It is 5 o'clock in the morning. A large, definately expensive yacht bobs up and down on the crystal blue sea. Land can be seen in the background, but it's anyone's guess as to where this is.

"Now, I hope you have a nice holiday! Goodbye!" The mercanaries leapt onto the helicopter as Eddie wriggled onto the floor, his muffled screams unable to be heard by anyone. Wurz calmly and cooly lit a cigarette, before using that to light Eddie's dress thing that he wore live on television for the 2011 Indian Grand Prix. Wurz dropped the burning garment onto the deck of the yacht, and it fluttered in the air before hitting the deck of the yacht.

[i]To be continued...

Brilliant. I believed every word of it. Well done.
I enjoyed the unmasking part.

Made me think of this classic scene:
http://youtu.be/nB-631wchB8
Silence of the Hams: Unmasking scene

[cbbcisace]

RIP HRT.

You brought us Karun "encyclopedia" Chandhok. "Food Poisoning", "Spanish Customs," a random return for Christian Klien, Liuzzi attempting to murder half the field in Monza, Karthikeyan running in the points at Malaysia then to be called a cucumber. 4 DNQ's and brake failures applenty.

One question.

Did they ever pay Dallara?

They had to pay Dallara to get the F110 IP for the F111.

[Shizuka]

If that was a book, I would totally buy it.

Me too. Can we get a dedicated version?

[Londoner]

HRT 2009-2012

I suppose that's the end of Docklands Light Railway's racing career, and thus the last remaining link to the 1990s as well.

[DanielPT]

I will really miss HRT. They have been a special team. They brought us many things to cheer for and support. A minute of silence in their honour.

[Zetec]

I'm sad now

[Yannick]

Where is The Whole Spanish Press when you need it the most?

HRT probably was intended as a tax saving write-off for owner Thesan Capital even when they purchased it.

Don't tell me the "Your name here"-livery is not innovatively rejectful. Also, one wonders if they were still on the grid if they had not been bored by Colin Kolles, the man who is known for bringing into F1 the likes of Narain Karthikeyan, Sakon Yamamoto, Markus Winkelhock and Adrian Sutil, amongst others.

[Whole Spanish Press]

Where is The Whole Spanish Press when you need it the most?

HRT probably was intended as a tax saving write-off for owner Thesan Capital even when they purchased it.

Don't tell me the "Your name here"-livery is not innovatively rejectful. Also, one wonders if they were still on the grid if they had not been bored by Colin Kolles, the man who is known for bringing into F1 the likes of Narain Karthikeyan, Sakon Yamamoto, Markus Winkelhock and Adrian Sutil, amongst others.

We all are still mourning the loss of Alonso's well deserved championship due to unplanned shenanigans (green flag, yellow light, green flag, yellow light, green, yellow and red (No! No! No red!) and then green, japanese driver, green, french playboy parking, yellow light again thingy).

Still wondering (careful there, Phoenix), what happened with the ol' days when you could twist a championship just by a short radio call or a mechanic just opening a gearbox just to say "yeah, can't see a damn down there, but seems still all pretty well" thus changing the whole grid...


H.R. who?

[FullMetalJack]

R.I.P. HRT

And as East Londoner said, the last driver from the 1990s seems to be gone. Marussia, please sign Luca Badoer!!!!!