In Australia, when the team failed to qualify for the Sunday race, the car was fitted with a 2010-spec front wing due to the fact that their new one had not passed the FIA crash tests. The HRT mechanics put all their efforts into making the necessary adjustments over the past week and finalized work on the new version of the wing in time to have it ready by Sepang.
According to Vitantonio Liuzzi, the new part will drop his F111's lap times by approximately 7 tenths of a second.
“We are motivated and positive because we should have the front wing,” Liuzzi told reporters on Thursday, in Sepang, according to Autosport. “Everything has been okayed from today, so we should receive it [the wing] before the beginning of the session tomorrow. We have a lot of new parts arriving and we are positive we will be in a much better shape than in Australia.”
As for his chances of actually making the race, the Italian hinted that the new parts may not be enough to guarantee that, but is trustful that the Malaysia package will provide the team with a great boost for the races to come.
“We cannot say we will be inside for the race,” he admitted, “but I am sure we will be really close to Virgin and will close the gap. Here in Malaysia it is the worst track for 107%, but I am pretty sure that if we will not get in, the other teams will struggle, because our pace will improve a lot and we will reduce a lot the gap to our competitors.”
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