Better late than never...
HISPANIA RACING
Car designation: F110
Launch date: 4 March 2010
Location: Murcia, Spain
What’s new? The team name, for one thing – after a winter best described as troubled, this is the resurrected Campos Meta entry, now with a new owner and new team principal. The car, however, is the same design as before, constructed by Italian single-seater specialist Dallara and marking the company’s first full return to F1 since the early 1990s. As with the Virgin VR-01, the car sports a low nosecone rising up into a high chassis complete with the now-ubiquitous ridges on the upper monocoque surface. The front wing is a three-plane design, with the mainplane stepped down on either side of the mandatory FIA aero-neutral midsection and the second planes following this step as well. Such a step will improve the wing’s influence over airflow while limiting an increase in drag. Split-element bridge wings increase the overall downforce generated, while the endplates show an advanced level of development with multiple turning vanes. The front wing as a whole is as advanced a design as that on the McLaren, which is an encouraging achievement. The chassis itself is relatively conservative, but is not as high as those on other cars and so the front suspension elements are less steeply angled. The effect this alternate suspension geometry will have on the narrower front tyres is unclear, but it will at least help balance out weight distribution. Further back, the bargeboards and turning vanes are conventional items, as is the under-chassis splitter feeding them and the underfloor. The sidepods are near-identical to those on the Renault R30, with an “r” shaped intake allowing an undercut before the pods bulk out to accommodate the large fuel tank. The engine cover is quite simple, lacking the “shark fin” of other cars and narrowing together with the sidepods into a standard Coke-bottle rear end. The rear wing is again a simple design, and the car appears to have provision for a double diffuser. Overall, it is a competent effort.
Objectives for 2010: Having only been in a position to launch the car just over a week before the first race – and therefore losing any chance to test beforehand – Hispania’s sights are going to have to be quite low to start with. They are hundreds of kilometres of running behind even the other new teams, and have no idea what the car is capable of in terms of straight-line speed or downforce, or even if the Cosworth engine and gearbox are well integrated with the chassis. Put simply, the cards are somewhat stacked against them, and so getting the car to the stage where it runs well and finishes races is going to be an achievement in itself. A point would be the icing on the cake. Drivers Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok will both be acutely aware of the struggle it has been to get to this stage, and so will most likely be grateful to have a car and a superlicence to race with. Both will most likely be aiming to build up their F1 experience and help the new team as much as possible.
First impressions: It’s a simple design, but it ticks the right boxes. Like the VR-01 it has a low nosecone rising up to a high chassis, which features a lot of the design elements displayed on other cars this season – there are a few hints of Red Bull and McLaren in the engine cover, for example, although the sidepods follow the trend of Renault and Force India in contrast. Perhaps the best thing to be said is that there is nothing clearly at odds with current Formula One design, and that should be a source of encouragement for the team. What will not be encouraging, however, is the fact that the team go into the first race of the season without any testing whatsoever – the car will at best have undergone a shakedown, although even that may be unlikely due to time constraints. Certainly, the first time a wheel will turn properly will be in Friday practice in Bahrain, and that is a real cause for concern. Leaving aside the lack of baseline data to work from, any reliability issues which arise will be incredibly difficult to resolve within the timeframe of a race weekend, and so it could be something of a bruising encounter. The opening rounds are therefore more like test sessions for the new outfit, and they are likely to be propping up the grid for a while until they have a better understanding of the car at their disposal. There are three positives, however. One, the Dallara-designed chassis shows some promising aspects as well as room for development, so once the team have gotten used to it improving its performance should not be problematic. Two, in new team principal Colin Kolles and advisor Geoff Willis it has two men who have faced the challenges of getting a fledgling team onto the grid and will know exactly what is required, thereby easing the gestation process. Three, in Senna and Chandhok it has two drivers who are young enough and grateful enough for the opportunity to race that they will be eager to help the team overcome its problems, while at the same time having enough pace to take advantage of an upturn in form. Put all these together and Hispania’s situation is not as overwhelming as it first appeared. Don’t expect any miracles though – this is going to be a baptism of fire.
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So there we have it. All the runners and riders previewed before the first race (well, nearly anyway
). Thanks for reading and hope it's been informative and worthwhile. I'm going to wait and see how things go before making any promises about race reviews, but for now I'm looking forward to seeing the race tomorrow.
EDIT: Updated car designation
