23/07/2011
NEWS STORY
HRT Formula One Team enjoyed a constructive day at the Nuerburgring as Vitantonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo qualified 23rd and 24th with laps of 1.37.011 and 1.37.036 respectively.
Vitantonio Liuzzi: "We've continued to work hard during this morning's free practice and the balance of the car was good. I was optimistic about finishing ahead of our main rivals in qualifying. However, the track conditions changed from the morning to the afternoon and the car wasn't feeling the same. Also, with the gearbox change, we got penalized and will have to start off the back tomorrow. Still, I'm confident that tomorrow we can regain yesterday's feel on race distance. Tomorrow will be a difficult but exciting race."
Daniel Ricciardo: "I'm quite happy with the qualifying session. I'm not delighted but I have to be realistic and I think it's a good step forward from Silverstone. Also, this morning, I wasn't so quick and we learned from that. We made some changes with the engineer and it seems to be positive because my lap times improved considerably. So I think it's a very a good step forward. We need to take another one tomorrow during the race."
Colin Kolles, Team Principal: "Clearly, we'd intended to qualify better for our 28th grand prix, so inevitably today's qualifying session was a disappointing one. The race is what counts though. The team did a great job changing the engine yesterday after our problem and they are all solved now. The cold temperature is affecting the warming up of the tyres. I really hope we can achieve a good result tomorrow. The risk of rain that has been forecast all weekend could change our strategy even if it is a worry not to have worked with wet tyres all weekend on this track."
To check out our Nurburgring qualifying gallery, click here.