HRT blame drivers for not beating Lotus

Duke · 15 Dec 2010 at 11:31

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/12/15/kolles-drivers-the-only-reason-lotus-beat-hrt/

Is he serious? Their car was a pile of ****. Should have had Klien in there all season and they may done a bit better, but hard to see them beating the other two new teams really.

rpstewart · 15 Dec 2010 at 11:57

What has Kolles been smoking? He says that the drivers were the reason they were beaten yet he hired Yamamoto! Who's he trying to kid?

GravyMonster · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:27

First it was Dallaras fault. Then it was Cosworths fault. Now it's the drivers' fault. Only 1 common element to all of those.

TaKeN · 15 Dec 2010 at 14:40

What a complete Idiot. He says their car was the most reliable all season? Well Duh... you didn't ever add upgrades to the car so It surely wasn't hard to iron all the faults out across the season.

simisker · 15 Dec 2010 at 15:02

You can see why he'd say something like that, though - it's investor fishing season, after all.

"Would you be throwing your money away, worried investor? Not at all! Last year's performance? Entirely down to the drivers, yeah. This season we're getting some better ones in, don't worry."

It's a bit of a slap in the face for paying drivers, however, isn't it?

"Thanks for all your money, it's been a great help. By the way, you were **** at driving. Good luck in Brazilian truck racing or whatever."

Flibster · 15 Dec 2010 at 15:34

Aaaaaaahahahahahahaha!
Hahahahaha hahahahahahahaha!!

The only reason they were ahead of Virgin was due to Chandhok being able to bring the car home when many others couldn't.

GingerNinja1989 · 15 Dec 2010 at 16:46

Without the drivers, he wouldn't have even had enough money to run the team!

Emlyn_Dewar · 15 Dec 2010 at 17:06

lol! HRT
They bring nothing of value to F1, just spent the entire year getting in the way of the "real" teams.
To blame the drivers for that absolute disgusting shed of a car... For shame.

If you're going to be a slow team, at least be the likeable underdogs. Don't slate the drivers for your hideous failings.

LizardKing · 15 Dec 2010 at 19:24

Emlyn_Dewar said:
If you're going to be a slow team, at least be the likeable underdogs. Don't slate the drivers for your hideous failings.

Exactly, HRT have just lost any kind of respect i had for them and that only came through pity.
I don't remember Minardi ever slating his drivers, that was a team that was likeable and a loss to the sport.

arknor · 15 Dec 2010 at 19:47

Emlyn_Dewar said:
If you're going to be a slow team, at least be the likeable underdogs. Don't slate the drivers for your hideous failings.

or make the best coffee like minardi ? was it were famous for

GingerNinja1989 · 15 Dec 2010 at 19:49

LizardKing said:
Exactly, HRT have just lost any kind of respect i had for them and that only came through pity.
I don't remember Minardi ever slating his drivers, that was a team that was likeable and a loss to the sport.

Used to be an avid Minardi fan, if only for the underdog-ness and talent spotting (Webber, Teflonso et. al.) :eek:

JRS · 15 Dec 2010 at 19:54

Kolles obviously going for the Luca Cordero di Montezemolo 'Keep Your Drivers On-Side' Award™ this year....

pingwing · 15 Dec 2010 at 23:40

Flibster said:
The only reason they were ahead of Virgin was due to Chandhok being able to bring the car home when many others couldn't.

Just embarrassing!! The one driver who did reasonably well with the worst car the F1 grid has seen in years and the team dont have the decency to put its hands up and take responsibility for its own failings...

Wish they could just be honest, then they'd at least have had a shout at getting the old toybota F1 car to the grid next year or something instead of blaming everyone but their own failings. So running an F1 team one day

Emlyn_Dewar · 16 Dec 2010 at 11:25

GingerNinja1989 said:
Used to be an avid Minardi fan, if only for the underdog-ness and talent spotting (Webber, Teflonso et. al.)

Exactly the same for me. You knew every race they were going to be last, but you still hoped for a miracle. Australia 2002 being one of those moments.

Towards the end they actually seemed to be making improvements.
I miss Minardi.

LizardKing · 16 Dec 2010 at 13:36

Emlyn_Dewar said:
I miss Minardi.

And to think the shambles that was Prodrive got Minardi's grid slot, :rolleyes:

(No source other than wiki)

JRS · 16 Dec 2010 at 13:50

LizardKing said:
And to think the shambles that was Prodrive got Minardi's grid slot, (No source other than wiki)

You may want to change your sources. Minardi's F1 operation was bought by Red Bull to become Torro Rosso. Prodrive's attempts to get into F1 had nothing to do with that grid slot AFAIK.

LizardKing · 16 Dec 2010 at 14:10

JRS said:
You may want to change your sources. Minardi's F1 operation was bought by Red Bull to become Torro Rosso. Prodrive's attempts to get into F1 had nothing to do with that grid slot AFAIK.

It wasnt there grid slot par say, more of a case of me misquoting the page.
From Paul Stoddarts page

In March 2006, less than a year after selling his team to Red Bull, Stoddart announced his intentions to return the Minardi name to Formula One after lodging an entry with the FIA for the 2008 championship season. However, rival entry Prodrive were awarded the 12th and final place on the grid (which they ultimately did not use).

Torro Rosso may have bought the Minardi team but they lost any personality it had.

JRS · 16 Dec 2010 at 14:15

Oh, I see. You meant Stoddart's attempt at restarting Minardi rather than the old team.

At any rate - Prodrive didn't take up the spot due to the ongoing nonsense about customer chassis. Quite why the FIA took such a downer on the whole customer car idea when they wanted to cut costs in F1 is still a bit of a mystery to me....

GravyMonster · 16 Dec 2010 at 14:25

Because the FIA hate Dave Richards for some reason.

If it had been anyone else, I'd imagine the outcome would have been different.

Emlyn_Dewar · 16 Dec 2010 at 14:50

They hate Paul Stoddart too don't they?