22/08/2011
NEWS STORY
After a three-week summer break, the HRT Formula One Team is preparing for the 30th F1 Grand Prix of its young history on August 28. Since its two car finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Italian driver Vitantonio Liuzzi recharged his batteries in Greece while Australian rookie Daniel Ricciardo only took one week off at home in the UK after a number of busy Red Bull promotions in Austria and Italy.
Vitantonio Liuzzi: "Spa Francorchamps is every driver's favourite circuit, because of its high-speed nature and the challenge it represents. Our car should be better suited to tracks like this, so I'm really looking forward to it. It's a bit of an anniversary because on August 28, 2004 I finished the Formula 3000 race on the second step of the podium having started from pole. For me, Spa is the nicest track of all!"
Daniel Ricciardo: "Among several memories from my 55 career podiums, I started from pole and won one of the last Formula 3 British races in Spa in 2009, so it's a circuit that I know. In the small formula cars it gets boring because you run out of power on all those long straights, but I'm really looking forward to driving a Formula One car there. The weather is always a question mark. I love the middle sector and its great flow. It's one of the best circuits and should suit us well".
Colin Kolles, Team Principal: "Spa Francorchamps is a great race track, with many high-speed corners. But there is also a disparity in the corners between Blanchimont, which is taken at 300 km/h, and the La Source hairpin, which is taken at only 60 km/h. The car set-up must reflect the need to perform with complete stability in the very fast and medium-speed corners, while also having the mechanical traction to deal with the Bus Stop chicane and La Source. The weather is often hard to predict but we should be well prepared for a strong performance".
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