Formula One’s Tortoise…

Date: 1st July 2010 at 4:00 pm | Filed under: Formula 1 News,Hispania Racing | Author: DaveStubbings | Tags: Bruno Senna, Christian Klien, European Grand Prix, Hispania Racing, Jarno Trulli, Karun Chandhok, Lucas di Grassi, Valencia | image © Action Images

A double finish was Hispania’s reward at the European Grand Prix, for only the third time this season.

Another consistant performance for the Spanish team saw both Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna beating Jarno Trulli’s Lotus as the team steadily catch up on their rivals at the back of the grid.

Chandhok also beat Timo Glock in the Virgin-Cosworth as Hispania raced with Richard Branson’s team throughout the afternoon.

Senna’s fastest lap may have been nearly a second faster than his team mate but he came home 20^th, two places behind Chandhok. The Indian also had the measure of Senna in qualifying, beating him by two tenths; the first time Chandhok has out qualified the Brazilian since Malaysia.

Chandhok’s result could have been even better were it not for a last lap manoeuvre by Di Grassi.

“It was a reasonable race for me. The pace early on was quite good but then I started to struggle with the option tyres We decided to pit under the safety car and switch to primes which was a good decision as I was able to then settle into a rhythm and pull away from Bruno.

“At the end though, having done 47 laps on one set of tyres I didn’t quite have enough pace to fight against Timo and he managed to muscle past on the final lap. All in all, I am quite pleased with the job I did and it’s good for the team to get two cars to the finish in front of their home supporters.”

Team principal Colin Kolles explained the difference between the two drivers’ race results.

“We started on different strategies into the race. Bruno started on prime tyres and Karun was on options. We decided to do Karun’s pit stop during the safety car period and to win some positions thereby, as the Virgins were on a different strategy. Unfortunately, there were two incidents where both drivers’ front wings were damaged.”

Despite losing a mirror in Friday morning practise, Senna also put in the best display of a Hispania in any practise session so far this season, beating Trulli, Di Grassi and Christian Klien (standing in for Chandhok for the session) to finish 21^st out of 24, proving Hispania’s pace competitiveness in improving.