Does F1 miss Hispania?

In July 2009, the FIA decided to try and increase then number of teams on the grid from 10 to 13. After BMW Sauber's withdrawal and subsequent reinstatement under Peter Sauber, and Toyota leaving, 4 new teams were eventually allowed to join the grid for 2010 - Team Lotus (now Caterham), Manor GP (then Virgin, now Marussia), Campos Meta (then HRT) and USF1. USF1 failed to make the grid for 2010, and after 3 seasons at the back Hispania left the sport. Now as the season is coming to a close, has the 2013 F1 season missed Hispania?

Performance

Despite regularly being called the worst team in F1, HRT finished 11th in both 2010 and 2011, only finishing last in 2012, their final season. It is highly unlikely that, had HRT remained, they would have built a car capable of challenging anyone other than Caterham and Marussia.

If we look at 2012, Hispania's best result was 15th (and last) at the Grand Prix de Monaco, in fact the only time they didn't finish last and second last (not including classified finishes) was when Pedro de la Rosa beat Timo Glock at the German Grand Prix. Assuming they kept this record up, the highest finish they would have had this year would have been 16th at this year's Monegasque GP.

Thus I think it's fair to say that they wouldn't have provided much of a threat to points or either Marussia or Caterham. With the right driver, they may have demoted Chilton a place, but that would probably have been the limit of their success.

Drivers

Considering they only competed for 3 season, Hispania had an incredible 8 drivers compete in a race (and a total of 11 completing a session over a GP weekend). Let's have a look at how the drivers and whether firstly, HRT helped them as a driver, and secondly if they helped the sport by having drivers worthy of the right, as opposed to pay drivers.

Karun Chandhok - Linked with Force India before HRT drive, probably deserved to show his ability, but ultimately never progressed.
Bruno Senna - Unlucky not to be in Brawn for 2009, HRT made the grid better with Bruno's hiring and it certainly help him get drives at Lotus and Williams.
Sakon Yamamoto - Had races at Super Aguri and Spyker, making him "the experienced one" at HRT. Neither F1 nor the driver benefitted from the decision to let him race, he finished last at every race he entered for Hispania (not including classified finishes).
Christian Klien - Had had his time in F1 with Jaguar and Red Bull, he out qualified Senna by a second in his first qualifying with HRT, but drove only 3 races and hasn't driven an F1 car since.
Narain Karthikeyan - Apart from being an Indian in an Indian GP he added little to the grid (and beating future RB driver Ricciardo), hasn't found F1 employment since.
Vitantonio Liuzzi - Having been dropped by Force India he scored Hispania's best result of 13th, and he provided a good benchmark to see how quick Ricciardo was.
Daniel Ricciardo - The high point of Hispania drivers, Red Bull dropped him in the seat and it gave him some key experience. Though always likely to get the Toro Rosso seat anyway, the Hispania experience almost certainly helped him and Hispania definitely helped the sport with his employment.
Pedro de la Rosa - If paired alongside a rookie he could have been part of a great pairing, as it was he partnered Karthikeyan and 2012 was pretty dismal for the team.

In summary.
GOOD: Senna, Ricciardo
OK: Chandhok, Liuzzi, de la Rosa
BAD: Klien, Yamamoto, Karthikeyan

NB: None of Dani Clos, Ma Qinghua and Jan Charouz (the team's test drivers) have driven in a F1 Grand Prix. Ma has driven in test sessions for Caterham.

For 2013, HRT had confirmed de la Rosa and Karthikeyan, but Antonio Felix da Costa could easily have been flighted in and potentially got himself the Toro Rosso seat. Other talented youngsters could also have potentially won themselves a test session or two.

Presence

For me, this is the key reason as to why I miss HRT. They may have been forever at the back, but if one more team goes bankrupt (Lotus, Force India, Sauber, Marussia are all in danger) then only 20 drivers can make the grid. Looking ahead to 2014, Magnussen, Sainz Jr, da Costa, Vandoorne could be driving for next season.

Overall

Yes, F1 misses HRT:

• Could promote young talent
• Expanded the grid
• Would give Cosworth a team in 2014 - more engine suppliers

No, F1 doesn't miss HRT:

• Pay drivers and has beens drove for them
• Were never going to challenge for points and didn't seem to progress

What do you think?

Can a mod add a poll please. 4 options (F1 and I miss HRT, I miss HRT but F1 doesn't, F1 misses HRT but I don't and Neither F1 nor I miss HRT)

 

Why does Karthikeyan always get such a bad rep? In the F3 circles, he was regarded as one of the fastest competitors around who deserved a shot in a better car...

In response to the question, HRT were always a bit of a joke. Their participation in every single one of their seasons was in question until very late, to the point where they were failing to qualify for the first race of the year. F1 is better off without them. But I agree we need to find a way of getting another one or two new teams in.

 

I haven't the faintest idea how to add a poll to a pre-existing thread, sorry!

I miss HRT, although feel F1 at large doesn't. Whilst in an ideal world all teams on the grid would be competitive, it's never happened in the past so I don't see why we'd expect it now. It's a shame FOM never cover more of the backmarker fights, as the additional TV coverage would undoubtedly help them bring in advertisers. I'd much rather see a replay of a Caterham overtaking a Marussia than a shot of Vettel proceeding serenely around the track on the way to his latest win.

I don't think Bernie thought the idea through properly really. He wanted more teams to come in and be competitive, but by offering them such a raw deal in terms of TV money, prize money, etc, he's hardly helped them become competitive. I think the idea was to entice a big manufacturer back into the sport, and when only privateer teams were forthcoming, he's tried his best ever since to get rid of them again, which I think is a shame.

 

I miss HRT. I think F1 currently needs more seats as their are more drivers that need to be in F1 right now. HRT could have done deals with top teams to run their drivers in exchange for parts. And therefore had a better chance ala marussia.


* I think I know how to add a poll. You start a new thread with a poll then merge this one to it (mods will merge)

 

I hadn't thought much about this before I saw the thread so I guess I wasn't missing them that much. However, it's true that there's a dearth of seats, especially for upcoming talent; it hadn't occurred to me that HRT's absence was part of this. Shall we ask Seb how much he misses the greengrocer's van?

 

IMO this is where HRT went wrong putting Cucumber with PDLR. they should have been a feeder team. But their demise and project failure was more to do with the Spanish economy.

 

Hindsight is easy but I think they were doomed from the start because they never seemed to have any secure foundation to build upon, it was always will they or won't they even make the grid.

 

I miss having a 12th team and I have to admit I'd developed a soft spot for Hispania by the end. Bernie must once again take the blame though. What's his policy on extra teams these days, if I recall correctly he doesn't want them any more?

 

Remember that mysterious Scorpion Racing effort that was being talked about at the start of the year?

 

If it gives a driver the opportunity to showcase his talent and is simply not used for rich or corporate backed playboys to run around at the back for no good reason, then the more teams on the F1 grid the better.

Unfortunately, if no one will fund a 12th team to put talented drivers in then it is frankly a waste of time.

 

Tbh, the only way I can see more teams arriving is if customer chassis are introduced, it would solve a few problems, teams who develop chassis can make a bit of the R&D money back, and new teams don't have to shell out for the R&D, they do it for engines why not chassis? Apparently everyone is up for it except Frank Williams, who ironically, started his own F1 team with a customer car. It's a shame because if you had, say 4 or 5 extra teams you'd get prequalifying, a chance to see some new drivers show what they can do when the chips are down. Without HRT would Ricciardo have gotten the RBR seat?

 

I think customer cars are the next step and somewhat inevitable since cost control is being ignored still. Hopefully such a tie in with big teams would mean a higher chance of a good rookie getting a seat rather than a poor pay driver. McLaren building a customer chassis and other components for the cost of running one of their junior drivers etc.

 

An excellent article, Paco.

The team became a source of hope – especially after relocating to Spain – which reflected and complimented Fernando Alonso's status as national hero. Although only connected by nationality, so far as I am aware, Alonso had no connection with HRT [edit: see Bando's post, below]. However, both did a great P.R. job for Bernie's circus. Then, alas, the world of finance and politics intervened to scupper hopes and shatter dreams.

In short, yes; I think F1 does miss HRT…

 

HRT was formerly Campos racing, and in 1999 their driver, Marc Gene, went to F1 and his place was taken by a young Spanish rookie named Fernando Alonso, tenuous, but it's there. It's a shame about HRT, I always hoped they'd step up each year, and, although their cars did get better, from the start they just never had the money.

 

How much do the lower teams get out of the concorde agreement?

 

I believe they are paid in bent cucumbers.

 

Are you calling Karthikeyan a poofter?

 

I realised it looked like that after I posted but it was meant to be an oblique reference to Bernie's, ahem, shall we say Swiss problem?

 

I don't miss them at all, for the same reason I don't miss Karthikeyan; F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport (supposedly) and they just weren't good enough.

This is very tenuously related to the thread, but I was talking to someone yesterday who didn't think Red Bull should be allowed two teams and it would be better if they sold off Toro Rosso. I don't disagree with this but I thought it would be shame if a team (the only team) looking to put the most promising young drivers they could lay their hands on in both cars, were off the grid. If STR were sold Aabar or whoever, they almost certainly wouldn't continue with Red Bull's young driver policy. Which kind of comes back to one of the bonuses of having HRT on the grid, it's two extra seats, same as Toro Rosso.

I came up with the idea of allowing teams to run a third car if the wish. The third seat would have to be occupied by a young driver (say under 25 years old) with less than two years F1 experience. The third car wouldn't score points, meaning if a team locked out the podium they'd only get 43 points, but they'd keep the 1-2-3 result if that sense. I'm guessing it would cost about £10m to run a third car, which I think most of the smaller teams could near enough cover with pay drivers, and the bigger teams would probably think it was justified to get one of their young drivers in a car and get a bit of extra development work done. I think it would be a lot better than having to resort to having teams like HRT on the grid and putting up with Red Bull running two teams (presumably they'd sell STR if they were allowed a third car) and it would be a lot of extra seats on the grid and they'd be exclusively for young drivers.

 

Do I miss HRT as a team? Probably not. Do I miss having a couple of extra seats on the grid to see new talent? Yes.

As others have said, there are too many good young drivers being pushed out by the pay drivers in the existing structure. I don't disagree with the customer car idea in principle, it works in Moto GP with the satellite bikes. As long as they are run as seperate teams (but sharing a chassis etc) I don't see an issue. I also don't see the problem with a third car, providing it is used correctly for young drivers.

I would love to see McLaren, Merc, Ferrari and Red Bull all running proper junior teams. That would be another 6 cars on the grid (obviously Red Bull already have STR).

We could then see the likes of Magnussen, Vandroome, Da Costa and others on the grid, and it would make the racing more competitive.

My only concern would be the current midfield, would they then struggle to score points, and therefore struggle to stay in F1? We probably all have a slight soft spot for one or more of Williams, Sauber, Force India et al.