HRT drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan both feel the team are in a relatively good position after Friday Practice in Budapest. De La Rosa was 22nd today, ahead of the Marussia of Charles Pic and the Spaniard expects more speed to come tomorrow.
“In general today went quite well. Despite the fact that we were unable to do long runs with a full tank to see how the tyres reacted, we did at least have the opportunity to test both compounds at the start of the second session and we got ahead of the rain. The car has performed well from the very start but we still have to improve it a bit for tomorrow, especially make it quicker on slow corners because it's oversteering. But we have a clear indication and a good base so all we have to do now is work”.
Teammate Karthikeyan is similarly positive and thinks HRT have the pace to get in amongst the Marussias tomorrow.
“The Hungaroring is virtually a new track for me because it's been seven years since I raced here, so I would have liked to have done more miles in the dry, but the rain caught us all by surprise. The track is pretty bumpy and quite technical so it's quite tough to get used to, but I think we've done a good job. We're not far off our main rivals and I think that tomorrow we can take them on”.
Reserve driver Dani Clos drove Karthikeyan's car in morning practice once again and is happy with his continued development as a Formula One driver.
“Today I was finally able to enjoy a dry session in good conditions. Towards the end of the session we were running very well on used tyres and I feel better every day in the F112. Just like any Friday session the objective was to have a first contact with the circuit and start to improve the set-up. I still need to do more miles to continue progressing but today I took another step”.
