Spanish FIA Official Frustrated with Hispania Struggles

Hispania Racing F1 Team has let a lot of Spanish fans down last weekend, when they weren't able to put a single car on the starting grid in Melbourne. The new 107 percent qualifying rule took care of that, as neither Vitantonio Liuzzi, nor Narain Karthikeyan managed to score a lap time within that margin allowed by the FIA for the 2011 campaign.

That being said, critic voices have started to make the headlines regarding the way Jose Ramon Carabante conducted his business through the winter, and the most important of all is that of Carlos Gracia, head of the Spanish motor racing federation and also a member of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council.

Asked to share his opinion on Hispania's struggles in Australia, Gracia admitted his frustration, not disappointment.

“I wouldn't say disappointed, because you could see this coming,” said the Spanish official in a recent interview with Radio Marca. “Like this, I would prefer there was no Spanish team in Formula One.”

“I want a Spanish team that is serious and with the necessary budgets, not a team that is made a fool of. Hispania has not done its homework. You cannot be in Formula One in such precarious condition.”

Hispania revealed their 2011-spec single-seater, the HRT F111, in Barcelona, 10 days before the start of the season, but was unable to provide it with any mileage during testing. Under the circumstances, the free practice sessions on Friday were tackled by both HRT drivers in testing mode, with the car encountering several reliability problems.

At the end of qualifying, after failing to set lap times within a 107 percent margin from the fastest time of the day, the HRT officials tried to secure their presence on the grid by asking the FIA to make an exception from that rule. Their demand was however denied shortly after.