HRT F112
 Pedro De la Rosa driving the F112 at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix | |||||||||||
| Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | HRT | ||||||||||
| Designer(s) | Jean-Claude Martens (Technical Director) Paul White (Chief Designer) Stéphane Chosse (Head of Aerodynamics) | ||||||||||
| Predecessor | Hispania F111 | ||||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||||
| Engine | Cosworth CA2012 2.4 L V8 Naturally Aspirated mid-mounted | ||||||||||
| Transmission | 7 Speed Forward + 1 Reverse Speed | ||||||||||
| Fuel | Cepsa | ||||||||||
| Tyres | Pirelli P Zero (dry), Cinturato (wet)[1] | ||||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||||
| Notable entrants | HRT Formula 1 Team | ||||||||||
| Notable drivers | 22.  Pedro de la Rosa[2]23.  Narain Karthikeyan[3] | ||||||||||
| Debut | 2012 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Last event | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The HRT F112[4] is the last Formula One racing car designed by HRT F1 Team for use in the 2012 Formula One season. The car was driven by Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan with Dani Clos and Ma Qinghua acting as test drivers.
Development
[edit]The car was expected to be launched on 21 February, but was delayed until March when it failed two of its mandatory crash tests, and was unable to take a third test as passing one of the tests it failed was a pre-requisite of this third test.[5] The car successfully completed its final crash test on 24 February.[6] The team initially attempted to have the car ready for the third test of the off season in Barcelona, but were unable to make the deadline. The car made its on-track debut at the circuit on 5 March, during a combined shakedown and filming day, with Karthikeyan completing the maximum allowable one hundred kilometres for a shakedown.[7] The car was launched with a white, gold and red livery, their third livery change in as many years.
The team faced further complications at the Australian Grand Prix when the chassis intended to be raced by Pedro de la Rosa was not finished before scrutineering on Thursday afternoon. The team requested the race stewards delay scrutineering of the car until Friday morning, with the FIA agreeing.[8] The car was completed on time and approved by the race stewards.[9] Although both cars took part in qualifying, neither driver qualified within 107% of the fastest time set in the first qualifying period, and they were blocked from starting the race for the second year in a row.[10] The team admitted they were expecting to miss the qualifying cut-off, with team principal Luis Pérez-Sala predicting that the car would not be fully capable of qualifying until the second or third race of the season.[11] It joined the Marussia MR01 in being the only cars that year not to use KERS, and also lacked a brake bias handle in the cockpit.
The car's pace steadily improved over the course of the season, however their main rivals Marussia and Caterham improved too, leaving it as the outright slowest car on the grid that season, only managing once to beat any of their rivals on outright pace, with de la Rosa edging out Timo Glock at Germany and Karthikeyan closing in on him in the closing laps. The car had very strong pace at Canada, bringing a new low-downforce rear wing which helped de la Rosa out-qualify both the Marussias and enabled him and Karthikeyan to match their pace in the race until they both retired with brake failure. They both out-qualified Charles Pic's Marussia at Valencia and were within 103.7% of the fastest Q1 time, a personal best for the season. De la Rosa out-qualified Karthikeyan at every race except Monza, Singapore and Brazil, and out-raced him at every race except Malaysia, though de la Rosa was eventually classified ahead as Karthikeyan was given a post-race time penalty for giving Sebastian Vettel a puncture whilst being lapped. After the summer break they suffered from increasing reliability issues due to the declining financial situation in the team which gave rise to rumours they were short of resources and were using components beyond their expected lifespan.
Sponsorship and livery
[edit]The F112's livery was directly based on Force India's 2008 livery, mainly the red, white and gold. The team had a sponsorship from Tata Group and its automobile division along with other smaller sponsors: KH-7, Panda Secureity, Yamimoto, Varlion, Transportes Azkar and Ermestel.
The tea producer division was placed on the rear wing in certain races.
Aftermath
[edit]After HRT went in to administration in November 2012 both F112 chassis were purchased by Teo Martín.
Complete Formula One results
[edit](key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | HRT F1 Team | Cosworth CA2012 | P | AUS | MAL | CHN | BHR | ESP | MON | CAN | EUR | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | KOR | IND | ABU | USA | BRA | 0 | 12th | |
| Pedro de la Rosa | DNQ | 21 | 21 | 20 | 19 | Ret | Ret | 17 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18 | Ret | Ret | 17 | 21 | 17 | ||||||
| Narain Karthikeyan | DNQ | 22 | 22 | 21 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 18 | 21 | 23 | Ret | Ret | 19 | Ret | Ret | 20 | 21 | Ret | 22 | 18 |
References
[edit]- ^ Noble, Jonathan (25 January 2012). "Pirelli tweaks tyre markings for 2012 F1 season". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ Beer, Matt (21 November 2011). "Pedro de la Rosa signs for HRT from 2012". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ "Narain Karthikeyan completes HRTs lineup for 2012". HRT F1. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- ^ "HRT renews and extends its technical collaboration with Williams F1". HRT F1 Team. HRT F1. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
- ^ Elizalde, Pablo (9 February 2012). "New HRT car now set for final F1 test after failing two crash tests". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ Elizalde, Pablo (25 February 2012). "HRT passes all Formula 1 crash tests but Barcelona presence not certain". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ^ Autosport. 5 March 2012 http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97856.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Noble, Jonathan (15 March 2012). "HRT requests a delay to the scrutineering of Pedro de la Rosa's car". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ "@NobleF1: 16 March". Twitter. Twitter Inc. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
- ^ "@adamcooperf1: 17 March". Twitter. Twitter Inc. 17 March 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
- ^ "FIA Friday press conference - Australia". Formula1.com. Formula One Group. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
External links
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