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107 Percent Rule Will Cause Further Victims in 2011

Hispania Racing F1 Team was unable to align its cars on the starting grid of the season opening Australian Grand Prix because neither of the two HRT F111s driven by Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan managed to enter the 107 percent qualifying zone set by the FIA for all qualifiers in 2011.

Starting this season, the cars that won't set a lap time within the 107 percent margin from the time set by the driver in pole position will not be allowed to enter the race. However, in certain situations, the FIA stewards are given the go-ahead to judge for themselves if a team or driver in that situation deserves to enter the race or not.

In fact, shortly after the qualifying session on Saturday, HRT team principal Colin Kolles argued his team should be allowed to participate in the Sunday running, as the squad hasn't had time to test its cars prior to the Australian event.

The FIA stewards rejected that request, hinting that en exception could be made only if one of the two HRT drivers had set “a suitable laptime in a free practice session”. And considering that the HRT F111 was seldom seen on the Albert Park track throughout the weekend, the FIA officials had no choice but to stick to their initial decision.

More, the FIA's race director Charlie Whiting was quoted as saying to the Gulf News: “If you're out, you're out,” hinting that the rule will be applied in the future, regardless of how many times a team might fall under it.

Although HRT was the only team unable to start the race, Marussia Virgin was not far from doing the same either, as both Timo Glock and Jerome D'Ambrosio barely made the grid with their lap times in qualifying.
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