HRT F1 Thrilled with Chandhok's Race Finish in Australia

While most of us were watching the thrilling battle for points on Sunday, something truly amazing was happening in the rear of the F1 field. As Hamilton and Webber were trying to pass Alonso, Karun Chandhok was comfortably sitting in P14, praying that nothing mechanical would happen in the last few laps to spoil his first F1 finish in career.

Although 5 laps behind, the Indian became the first HRT F1 driver to finish a race in Formula One, something that is yet to be achieved by fellow newly entrants Virgin Racing. Needless to say, the enthusiasm in the Hispania F1 garage was huge when watching Chandhok cross the finish line.

“This result, having Karun ending up the race in 14th position is a great step forward. We reached the goal with one of the two cars in the finish. I'm sorry for Bruno because he did a good job all weekend,” said the team's principal Colin Kolles.

“Karun drove the team's first full race and finished in 14th position the first race for the team, what was really fantastic, especially with these difficult conditions. The team did a great job and brought two very competitive cars on the grid. Now we will keep on pushing and just focus on our preparation for Malaysia, where our season will really begin,” added the Romanian-born official.

If Chandhok managed to finish the race at Albert Park, Bruno Senna only managed some 4 laps of running on Sunday, after yet another hydraulic failure caused his second DNF of the season. Apart from Chandhok, Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen was the only other racer competing for a new team that ended the race. His teammate Jarno Trulli was unable to start the race on Sunday because his team wasn't able to get his car ready by 5 PM (race start hour).