Senna: HRT a second up on Virgin and Lotus

Despite not having a single lap time to their name, Bruno Senna reckons his HTR F1 car will be a full second quicker than Virgin and Lotus's machines.

Hispania Racing Team, previously known as Campos Meta, has yet to turn a wheel in anger after financial problems caused delays which forced the team to miss all four pre-season tests.

However, the sale of the team to Jose Ramon Carabante has at least ensured that HRT - and Senna - will be on the grid when the season kicks off in Bahrain next week.

"It has not been an easy winter," Senna wrote in his Motorsport Magazin column.

"But I am naturally very glad that everything has played out so far that HTR, as the new team is called, will be in Bahrain."

And although he has yet to even put the car through a single lap, the Brazilian, nephew of the late great Ayrton Senna, reckons his HRT could be as much as a full second up on fellow newcomers Virgin and Lotus.

"Lotus and Virgin were, in Barcelona, only a good second faster than the GP2 cars, of which Dallara has all the data," said Senna.

"And, according to their calculations, we should be faster at the first attempt by at least two seconds to the GP2...

"Naturally, much of that will also depend on whether the car is reliable to some extent from the beginning.

"I hope that with the experience of the Dallara people and secondly with a bit of luck that the few problems like those which have plagued the other newcomers a lot at the beginning, particularly with hydraulics that are not team specific, have now generally been discarded."

Source: Senna: HRT a second up on Virgin and Lotus - Planet-F1 News from planet-f1.com