The HRT thread

watka · Post by **watka** » 13 May 2011, 19:53

Stay put, Colin Kolles.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 13 May 2011, 23:48

watka wrote:Stay put, Colin Kolles.

Couldn't agree more.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » 14 May 2011, 00:39

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:
watka wrote:Stay put, Colin Kolles.

Couldn't agree more.

+1

For anyone who doubted HRT at first and thought of me as a big idiot for supporting them, eat your words

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 14 May 2011, 02:05

HRT seem to be on a recruitment drive. They just put some ads on Autosport.

http://www.autosport.com/directory/appointments.html

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 14 May 2011, 12:23

According to their Twitter feed, they'll be announcing a contest for fans tomorrow. How exciting.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 14 May 2011, 13:51

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:According to their Twitter feed, they'll be announcing a contest for fans tomorrow. How exciting.

The oppotunity to work for an F1 team without having any experience, so long as you're prepared to work for free?

Myrvold · Post by **Myrvold** » 14 May 2011, 16:23

dr-baker wrote:
Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:According to their Twitter feed, they'll be announcing a contest for fans tomorrow. How exciting.

The oppotunity to work for an F1 team without having any experience, so long as you're prepared to work for free?

Yes please!

Faustus · Post by **Faustus** » 14 May 2011, 17:47

Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:HRT seem to be on a recruitment drive. They just put some ads on Autosport.

http://www.autosport.com/directory/appointments.html

All aero personnel. Very interesting. I think I'll skip it and stay with my current team.

Post by **mario** » 14 May 2011, 18:48

Faustus wrote:
Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:HRT seem to be on a recruitment drive. They just put some ads on Autosport.

http://www.autosport.com/directory/appointments.html

All aero personnel. Very interesting. I think I'll skip it and stay with my current team.

They have two sets of adverts, and the latter advert asks for a mechanical engineer with experience in designing composite structures, and a senior electronics engineer, so there are a few non-aerodynamics roles. That said, with Geoff Willis having to design of the car now that HRT have to do that in house, it's not surprising that they are aggressively recruiting, especially with rumours floating around of a heavily revised car in the offing.

I still have to wonder, though, where the funding for HRT recent and aggressive expansion has come from - I doubt that the deal to use the Mercedes wind tunnel will have been cheap. And many of these positions are pretty high up the pecking order - senior aerodynamicists, a new head of electronics and so on, coupled with a swathe of model makers, technicians and operating staff for wind tunnel tests, all of which won't come cheap.

This is a team that is supposed to be operating on a pretty modest budget - Carabantes said, as reported James Allen in March, that the team has an operating budget of €45 million. Yet, somehow, they are able to expand operations more aggressively than Virgin Racing, who are supposed to be on a similar (and possibly slightly smaller) budget, and cut deals with major outfits like Williams and Mercedes. Yes, Geoff Willis might be able to cut deals with Williams and Mercedes on more favourable terms, but even so, either HRT are very efficient and have very good deal making abilities, or the team is perhaps not quite as underfunded as we might think.

It's interesting to note, too, that Williams are having to expand their design team now that the deal with Jaguar has been finalised - I thought that it might have been done through a subsidiary company, and not the main outfit.

watka · Post by **watka** » 14 May 2011, 21:09

Faustus wrote:
Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:HRT seem to be on a recruitment drive. They just put some ads on Autosport.

http://www.autosport.com/directory/appointments.html

All aero personnel. Very interesting. I think I'll skip it and stay with my current team.

Step forward GroupLotusRenault

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 14 May 2011, 21:23

Regrettably it is likely that my career will never lead me to job in a F1 team. I hope to have the chance to work in something used in F1 though. There is still hope...

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 17 May 2011, 19:23

Hispania will make a donation to the victims of the Lorca earthquake.

Albeit they didn't revealed what/how much the donation is, it is a very nice gesture from Hispania nevertheless and is nothing short from their obligation. The question is, have their financial situation improved to the point where they can make donations?

No doubt they have revealed themselves worthy of the true rejects spirit!

EDIT: Apparently their site has the reject spirit too and doesn't let me link directly to where they say that a donation will be made. You have to go through Carabante personal message and chose the first link on the left.

Faustus · Post by **Faustus** » 17 May 2011, 20:08

DanielPT wrote:Regrettably it is likely that my career will never lead me to job in a F1 team. I hope to have the chance to work in something used in F1 though. There is still hope...

You never know man, sometimes opportunities come along when you least expect.

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 18 May 2011, 07:56

mario wrote:
Faustus wrote:
Jeroen Krautmeir wrote:HRT seem to be on a recruitment drive. They just put some ads on Autosport.
I still have to wonder, though, where the funding for HRT recent and aggressive expansion has come from - I doubt that the deal to use the Mercedes wind tunnel will have been cheap. And many of these positions are pretty high up the pecking order - senior aerodynamicists, a new head of electronics and so on, coupled with a swathe of model makers, technicians and operating staff for wind tunnel tests, all of which won't come cheap.

This is a team that is supposed to be operating on a pretty modest budget - Carabantes said, as reported James Allen in March, that the team has an operating budget of €45 million. Yet, somehow, they are able to expand operations more aggressively than Virgin Racing, who are supposed to be on a similar (and possibly slightly smaller) budget, and cut deals with major outfits like Williams and Mercedes. Yes, Geoff Willis might be able to cut deals with Williams and Mercedes on more favourable terms, but even so, either HRT are very efficient and have very good deal making abilities, or the team is perhaps not quite as underfunded as we might think.

I remember on that same James Allen website around the same time that a Lithuanian banker is behind them, mentioning Snoras bank, which sponsored Renault last season. Not sure if its true or not, but I will try to find that article.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 18 May 2011, 08:08

Faustus wrote:
DanielPT wrote:Regrettably it is likely that my career will never lead me to job in a F1 team. I hope to have the chance to work in something used in F1 though. There is still hope...

You never know man, sometimes opportunities come along when you least expect.

Yes they come. Maybe something is coming this way.

If some team came to need a Software Engineer then maybe...

David AGS · Post by **David AGS** » 18 May 2011, 08:09

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/03/w ... formula-1/

Here is a link. Nothing concrete, just rumours,

But where is this money coming from?

Liuzzi would be on little, considering he got paid out from F.India
Karthikeyan would bring heaps. Possibly more than ever with Indian GP around
FIA Funding ?
Carabrante is not poor as well.

Also apart from Yamamoto, Senna and Chandok brought little, the odd sponsor from then but not major backing.

If Snoras is behind it, why no decals???

BTW, I watched their youtube feature for the first time, little humour, I like the Aussie GP one, with the kangaroo on Gunn Island. They got 'Cool Spot here' on the Roo as well!!!

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 19 May 2011, 23:36

Pretty much off topic, but when I saw the episode of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4QRSbf9H5M I could have sworn I saw Liuzzi.

solarcold · Post by **solarcold** » 20 May 2011, 09:48

golic_2004 wrote:Pretty much off topic, but when I saw the episode of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4QRSbf9H5M I could have sworn I saw Liuzzi.

where exactly?

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 20 May 2011, 15:30

solarcold wrote:
golic_2004 wrote:Pretty much off topic, but when I saw the episode of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4QRSbf9H5M I could have sworn I saw Liuzzi.

where exactly?

As Lord Raiden, only an older disgruntled verson of him.

Speaking of whom, both he and Narain better pick up the pace if they want to qualify this weekend.

Post by **Londoner** » 20 May 2011, 15:40

Then again, in FP1, Liuzzi was ahead of Trulli. I think probably he had problems during the session, seeing as he only did 12 laps, whilst Liuzzi did 23.

Valrys · Post by **Valrys** » 20 May 2011, 15:44

Considering that Hispania were meant to have major upgrades (apparantly a blown diffusor as well?), today has been a tad disappointing.....but then a lot of people were quite far off the pace today.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » 20 May 2011, 16:07

Well the Virgins are about 1.4 seconds clear of both HRT's, and both HRT's aren't within 107%. I don't think HRT has put any of their big upgrades on their cars yet, they were trying out a blown floor, but that's all we know about.

S951 · Post by **S951** » 20 May 2011, 16:56

high fuel runs today according to kolles

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 20 May 2011, 17:08

S951 wrote:high fuel runs today according to kolles

They better hope so!

solarcold · Post by **solarcold** » 20 May 2011, 17:58

he better tell truth. this will be quite disappointing to see the same tomorrow. Colles, I hope you know what u're doing!!

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 20 May 2011, 18:04

I remember the guys over at Virgin having mentioned that they were running heavy fuelled during the winter testing sessions, that they were not worried, only for Australia to come and find themselves 5 secs of the pace... Hope it is similar. That way they can qualify, but I didn't bet on it though...

Post by **mario** » 22 May 2011, 19:28

So, now it looks like Kolles has risen to the bait that Whiting offered the teams - that they could submit a formal protest against the blown diffusers if they wanted to - with Kolles stating quite clearly that he intends to do just that.

Speaking to the BBC about the ongoing situation, Kolles said: "The only reason why we are not considering [here] is because we were not really involved in any sporting decision today. But it is clear that the other cars are illegal.

"We agree absolutely with Charlie Whiting's view and, by the way, we are not the only ones who agree. I think that if this is not going to be stopped before Monaco then we have no other choice."

When asked to clarify what he meant by no other choice, Kolles said: "To make a protest."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91661

Cynically speaking, though, it seems that Kolles is waiting for a situation where at least one of his cars beats one of the MVR-02's to the line, to maximise any potential benefit that he might gain if cars were excluded from the results (since Virgin Racing do have a non-blown diffuser they can, and have, fallen back on). Also, it appears that part of the reason Kolles is so annoyed is because HRT wanted to bring in a blown diffuser for the race today, dropped it when the FIA announced the ban, and couldn't ready the new floor for Barcelona when the ban was lifted again.

At the very least, it looks increasingly likely that this is a protest on behalf of Cosworth: Williams asked for "clarification", Virgin Racing supported their position and HRT are now on the cusp of protesting. The fact that all of those teams happen to use the same engine, and HRT is a customer of Williams, doesn't seem to be by accident...
And, of course, HRT has the most to gain by protesting - FOTA can't take any action against them as they are not part of their organisation, and if the other teams are excluded, HRT stands to possibly gain points that it otherwise wouldn't score under normal conditions.

So, now things become very interesting - is Kolles simply bluffing, or is he serious about protesting? And how will the other teams respond? Either way, Kolles has timed this perfectly - most of the teams have probably already left for Monaco, and have to be ready by Wednesday, so they have almost no time to react. More importantly, I doubt that any of them could even produce a new exhaust and diffuser combination in time for Monaco - leaving them in an even bigger quandary.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 22 May 2011, 20:56

It would truly sadden me if HRT and Virgin un-rejectified themselves due to legality reasons, that would truly be against the spirit of this site

Myrvold · Post by **Myrvold** » 23 May 2011, 01:31

sswishbone wrote:It would truly sadden me if HRT and Virgin un-rejectified themselves due to legality reasons, that would truly be against the spirit of this site

But it would be in the spirits of F1.

MigelNansell · Post by **MigelNansell** » 24 May 2011, 00:49

Just to take things back more in tune with Reject aspect and in the spirit of this site this has to be shared. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/260467/karthikeyan-burnt-during-spanish-grand-prix/

GroupLotusRenault · Post by **GroupLotusRenault** » 24 May 2011, 06:53

Myrvold wrote:
sswishbone wrote:It would truly sadden me if HRT and Virgin un-rejectified themselves due to legality reasons, that would truly be against the spirit of this site

But it would be in the spirits of F1.

More like the spirits of Max Mosley.

Load of crap from Colins mouth again!!!! GO HOME COLIN KOLLES FOR GOOD!!!!

JGomezHRT · Post by **JGomezHRT** » 26 May 2011, 10:30

New rear wing

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 26 May 2011, 11:20

That may not make it any better based on just the first practice. If anything, worse.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 26 May 2011, 11:40

err... Is that even legal?

According to 5 live commentary Colin Kolles has ruled out a protest now

Peter · Post by **Peter** » 28 May 2011, 00:42

sswishbone wrote:err... Is that even legal?

According to 5 live commentary Colin Kolles has ruled out a protest now

The Sauber has something like that I believe. That's the only car I can remember right now.

So i'm hoping HRT can give themselves a PB finish, but they need a crash for that to happen. The HRT is very gentle on tyres, and the super softs last only about 6 or so laps, so maybe they can have an advantage over Vrigin or Lotus.

Alos, i'm not just saying this, but that HRT is a very good looking car. Better than at least half the cars on the grid. :shock:

GroupLotusRenault · Post by **GroupLotusRenault** » 28 May 2011, 01:17

Peter wrote:
sswishbone wrote:err... Is that even legal?

According to 5 live commentary Colin Kolles has ruled out a protest now

The Sauber has something like that I believe. That's the only car I can remember right now.

So i'm hoping HRT can give themselves a PB finish, but they need a crash for that to happen. The HRT is very gentle on tyres, and the super softs last only about 6 or so laps, so maybe they can have an advantage over Vrigin or Lotus.

Alos, i'm not just saying this, but that HRT is a very good looking car. Better than at least half the cars on the grid.

Even though its a good looking car, sadly its still quite a bit off the race pace of the Virgins. If they can out quaifiy both and keep in front they could suprise the grid and with Turn 1 having its problesm on Thursday who knows...

Peter · Post by **Peter** » 28 May 2011, 01:25

GroupLotusRenault wrote:
Peter wrote:
sswishbone wrote:err... Is that even legal?

According to 5 live commentary Colin Kolles has ruled out a protest now

The Sauber has something like that I believe. That's the only car I can remember right now.

So i'm hoping HRT can give themselves a PB finish, but they need a crash for that to happen. The HRT is very gentle on tyres, and the super softs last only about 6 or so laps, so maybe they can have an advantage over Vrigin or Lotus.

Alos, i'm not just saying this, but that HRT is a very good looking car. Better than at least half the cars on the grid.

Even though its a good looking car, sadly its still quite a bit off the race pace of the Virgins. If they can out quaifiy both and keep in front they could suprise the grid and with Turn 1 having its problesm on Thursday who knows...

Yeah, they get very close in qualifying, but sink like rocks in a river as the race starts. Maybe they are just going conservative in the races so that they can finish. I know they did that often in 2010.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 28 May 2011, 11:36

for a team with the difficulties of HRT it's more important to actually qualify for a race than to finish the race, so it makes sense to concentrate on one-lap-pace, and when they find some extra money try to fix the race pace.

Post by **mario** » 28 May 2011, 11:44

sswishbone wrote:err... Is that even legal?

According to 5 live commentary Colin Kolles has ruled out a protest now

Just to expand on what others have said, it is legal because it falls within a region around the centreline of the car where small additional winglets are permitted (i believe that particular device is called a monkey seat - and no, I don't know why it's called that).

mediocre · Post by **mediocre** » 28 May 2011, 13:34

Why did neither of the HRTs drive?