23/07/2010
NEWS STORY
With a mixture of wet and damp conditions, Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team, concluded the first day at the Hockenheim circuit with positive results. In the rainy morning session, Bruno Senna finished in position 22 (1.31.720) and Sakon Yamamoto (24th) did a best lap time of 1.32.791. The track was only wet in some places during the second practice and both drivers of the Spanish team could run 74 laps in total. With a fastest lap of 1.21.988, Bruno Senna ended up 23rd while Sakon Yamamoto was 24th with a lap time of 1.23.066.
Dr Colin Kolles, Team Principal: "It was a positive first day for our team here in Hockenheim and we could do a lot of laps in both sessions. When it stopped raining in the first practice, the track got quicker and we changed to intermediate tyres. Bruno Senna showed a good performance in wet conditions. It was encouraging to see that under these circumstances, we are able to compete with the other drivers. But there is a fine line in finding the right measure when the track is getting dry again. For Sakon Yamamoto it was the first time in the rain for a long time and he was concentrating on driving under these conditions and getting as much data as possible. Now, we are hoping for a good and successful Saturday and Sunday."
Sakon Yamamoto: "Today, we there were mixed conditions in the two practices. In the first practice we started on wet tyres and changed to intermediates afterwards. It was a good opportunity for me to try the wet tyres. In the afternoon, the track dried up and some parts were still damped. We could try both tyre compounds, the options and the primes, for the qualifying and the race and I got a lot of experiences and data with these tyres as I could do many laps today preparing for tomorrow."
Bruno Senna: "It was a good and productive day for us. We managed to do some testing and we got an idea of what we are going to do to the car. I enjoyed driving under wet conditions this morning. At the end of the first session, I pushed a bit too hard and went onto gravel. Now we have to focus on the qualifying and the race and hopefully we can do a good result."