The Italian driver was recently ousted by Force India despite having one more year of contract with the Silverstone based team, and has been looking for work ever since. And since Renault is no longer an option for Liuzzi, his managing staff have only one more team to talk to in order to secure him a place on the F1 grid.
Italiaracing reports that Liuzzi will drive HRT's 2010-spec challenger on Circuit de Catalunya this weekend, alongside the Spanish team's only official driver so far Narain Karthikeyan. However, according to Spanish language virutasf1.com, the news doesn't mean that the Italian racer will necessarily sign a deal with the team for the 2011 season.
Hispania has missed out on the latest group test in F1, at Jerez, as it preferred to join Pirelli in a filming session at Monza. And since they don't have their 2011-spec car ready anyway, the team decided to cut down on the costs meant for testing before the season kick-off.
As reported several times before, the second available seat at HRT is up for grabs only if it's backed by some serious finance. According to sources from within the team, as well as some recent statement from team boss Colin Kolles and owner Jose Ramon Carabante, that seat alongside Karthikeyan for the 2011 campaign would set a driver back some EUR10 million, no matter if he brings the money by his own or through sponsorship.
With HRT joining the F1 field in Barcelona, this will be the first group test when all teams will attend the running.
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