HRT boss Luis Perez-Sala conceded on Friday that it will be difficult for his team to qualify for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and they might not be ready to race until the third round of the championship in China.
The team, who have yet to score a point after two seasons in Formula One and finished 11th out of 12 last year, were thrown into disarray by a failure of their car to pass the newly required crash test last month.
On Friday, India's Narain Karthikeyan managed just three laps in the first practice session and 16 in the second, while his Spanish team mate Pedro de la Rosa managed just an installation lap in the second session.
"For us it has been almost a success just to be here in Melbourne because it has been very tough," Perez-Sala told a news conference.
"We worked all night last night to get the second car ready."
To qualify for the race the HRT cars need to get within 107 percent of the best time in the first qualifying session on Saturday and Perez-Sala admitted that was unlikely.
"It will be difficult for us," he said. "I'm not thinking now about the speed of the car, I'm just trying to get all the things done that we need to do as best as possible to get into (third practice) tomorrow.
"For us, Melbourne is like a place where we will get some information about the cars and go forward for the next races."
HRT failed to qualify for the Australian Grand Prix last year on the 107 percent rule and made their season debut at the second race in Malaysia.
Even that might not be possible for his exhausted team this year, Perez-Sala said.
"We hope, we will see," he said. "For us, the most important thing is to be here and then to learn as much as possible. Of course, the team is a bit tired because we have been working quite hard in the last month.
"I would like them to relax a bit and we will see. Malaysia? Shanghai? Whatever."
The team, who have yet to score a point after two seasons in Formula One and finished 11th out of 12 last year, were thrown into disarray by a failure of their car to pass the newly required crash test last month.
On Friday, India's Narain Karthikeyan managed just three laps in the first practice session and 16 in the second, while his Spanish team mate Pedro de la Rosa managed just an installation lap in the second session.
"For us it has been almost a success just to be here in Melbourne because it has been very tough," Perez-Sala told a news conference.
"We worked all night last night to get the second car ready."
To qualify for the race the HRT cars need to get within 107 percent of the best time in the first qualifying session on Saturday and Perez-Sala admitted that was unlikely.
"It will be difficult for us," he said. "I'm not thinking now about the speed of the car, I'm just trying to get all the things done that we need to do as best as possible to get into (third practice) tomorrow.
"For us, Melbourne is like a place where we will get some information about the cars and go forward for the next races."
HRT failed to qualify for the Australian Grand Prix last year on the 107 percent rule and made their season debut at the second race in Malaysia.
Even that might not be possible for his exhausted team this year, Perez-Sala said.
"We hope, we will see," he said. "For us, the most important thing is to be here and then to learn as much as possible. Of course, the team is a bit tired because we have been working quite hard in the last month.
"I would like them to relax a bit and we will see. Malaysia? Shanghai? Whatever."
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