page_title: HRT Formula 1 Team
section_title: 2011 season
hierarchical_section_title: HRT Formula 1 Team / History / 2011 season
caption_attribution_description: English: Formula One 2011 Rd.2 Malaysian GP: Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) during the second practice session on Friday.
context_page_description: HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010, and then to investment group Thesan Capital in July 2011. It was the first Spanish team to race in Formula One; a previous effort known as "Bravo F1" failed to enter the sport in 1993.
  In November 2012, HRT's owners announced that they were looking to sell the team. When they were unable to find a buyer before the deadline of 30 November, the team was subsequently omitted from the 2013 entry list.
context_section_description: Hispania parted company with Dallara in May 2010 after the partnership between the two companies had become tense due to the car's lack of performance. The team sought an alternative technical deal to assist in the construction of its 2011 chassis. When Hispania was still under the Campos name, team owner José Ramón Carabante said in an interview with Autosport that Campos Meta F1/HRT were eyeing a Ferrari engine supply for the 2011 season. Colin Kolles said in an interview with Diario AS in July 2010, that talks about a partnership with Toyota was an option for 2011. Kolles confirmed in October that the team had enough financing to complete its maiden Formula One campaign.
   
  Former chief executive officer of Telefónica, Juan Villalonga joined the team in November 2010. His main role is to help with communications, technology and sponsorship. It was later announced that the team would give a test to GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado who later secured a drive with Williams. Fellow GP2 drivers Josef Král and Davide Valsecchi will also test for the team in Abu Dhabi. After the final race of the 2010 season, it emerged that Hispania had signed a deal in the summer of 2010 with Toyota Motorsport GmBH which would have seen it use Toyota's never-raced 2010 car, the Toyota TF110, as the basis of its 2011 challenger as well as making use of Toyota Motorsport's technical resources. In November 2010, Toyota announced that they had cancelled the agreement because HRT failed to make payments. In December 2010 there were reports that the team has been placed up for sale, but had been denied by its owners. Hispania also left the Formula One Teams Association at this point, blaming the organisation's bias against the smaller teams for its decision. The FOTA secretary-general, however, claimed that Hispania was expelled from the organisation because it did not pay its 2010 membership fee.
  On 6 January, Narain Karthikeyan announced that he would drive for Hispania in the 2011 season. He previously drove for the Jordan team in 2005. By February, it had emerged that the team was considering Vitantonio Liuzzi as an option for their second driver. Liuzzi confirmed that it was in consideration and took part in the third pre-season test with the team, in Barcelona. The team also tested former Formula Renault V6 Eurocup champion Giorgio Mondini at Barcelona. Liuzzi was confirmed as Hispania's second driver on 9 March 2011.
  The team's 2011 car, the Hispania F111 made its debut during the second practice session of the Australian Grand Prix, with Vitantonio Liuzzi completing an installation lap three minutes before the end of the session. In qualifying, both drivers failed to score a time under the 107% of the pole. In Malaysia, the team showed improved pace, with Liuzzi only half a second from the slowest of the Virgin cars. Both cars were within 107% of the polesitter's time, and were thus able to take the start of the race. However both cars retired with technical problems. In China, Liuzzi and Karthikeyan qualified again, and completed the race as the last two classified finishers in 22nd and 23rd respectively.
  In Turkey, Liuzzi started the race in front of both Virgins, but finished 22nd thanks to brake problems, with Karthikeyan in 21st. Spain saw both cars starting ahead of Jérôme d'Ambrosio, but meanwhile Karthikeyan finished 21st, Liuzzi retired with gearbox problems; in Monaco, both drivers crashed in practice and did not enter qualifying, but were allowed to start the race by the stewards. Liuzzi finished 16th and Karthikeyan 17th, taking advantage of multiple retirements. In Canada, the team achieved their best result with both drivers finishing in 13th and 14th positions, placing them ahead of Virgin in the Constructors' Championship. However, Karthikeyan was hit with a post race penalty for cutting a chicane during the race, which dropped him to 17th place. At Valencia, Liuzzi and Karthikeyan finished 23rd and 24th.
  On 4 July 2011, it was announced that Thesan Capital, a Madrid-based investment company purchased a controlling stake in th
caption: Narain Karthikeyan (pictured) and Vitantonio Liuzzi joined the team for the 2011 season.
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