HRT F1 Team

The Hispania Racing Team (HRT) had a troubled existence before and during its short time on the Formula 1 grid. Former GP2 entrant Adrián Campos had long wanted to form an F1 team when he combined with Enrique Rodríguez of Meta Image to form Campos Meta 1 which was awarded one of three GP franchises available for 2010. Agreement was reached with Dallara for the chassis and Cosworth for the engine.

However, Campos could not find sufficient sponsorship so sold to shareholder José Ramón Carabante on 19 February 2010. Colin Kolles replaced Campos as Team Principal, the team was renamed HRT with Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok confirmed as drivers. Late payments delayed the Dallara-built HRT F110 which was only completed in the Bahrain paddock before the first race of the season. Finances were always minimal and it was something of a triumph that they made it through the season – 14th the best result achieved.

HRT and Dallara parted ways at the end of that debut campaign but hopes to take over the stillborn 2010 Toyota were unsuccessful. So the 2010 cars were modified in 13 weeks for another pointless season at the back of the field. Carabante sold a controlling interest to Thesan Capital and Red Bull paid for Daniel Ricciardo to make his F1 debut at Silverstone in 2011, which raised profile and provided some welcome funding.

Luis Pérez Sala replaced Kolles as Team Principal in 2012 and the experienced Pedro de la Rosa signed a two-year contract as lead driver. Having moved to Madrid, HRT endured another uncompetitive campaign and closed on 30 November when a buyer could not be found.