The FIA has confirmed that neither Pedro de la Rosa nor Narain Karthikeyan will be allowed to start in Australia under the 107% rule, despite the HRT team requesting dispensation for “exceptional circumstances.”
After running very few laps in practice both drivers managed to record respectable times – de la Rosa was just over 1.2s outside the margin – but that wasn’t deemed to be good enough.
Team boss Luis Perez Sala said: “It’s obvious that we still have a lot of work ahead to be where we should be and even more to improve on that potential, but today was the first time we were able to complete both sessions with both cars and that is positive.
“Although today wasn’t the result we desired, we’ve fixed some of yesterday’s issues and were able to spot out the weakest points. Now we can work on them and find a solution. These solutions aren’t immediate but with every day and every session we’re in better conditions. Time is precious and next week in Malaysia we’ll have another four sessions to prepare for the next race”.
Adam Cooper F1 
Well, 2 ways of looking at it:
the rules are specific, but FIA made many exceptions last year. I can sympathise with HRT having had very little running time to iron out their problems.
On the other hand they have had as much time as any other team to prepare and at the start of their 3rd season there should be no excuse for not being prepared. Maybe next year, if they survive, they will not have “mañana syndrome” and be ready for testing.
To be fair to HRT they do have some excuses for being unprepared – such as the change of ownership, exit of key personnel and relocation to another country. It won’t please Bernie one bit.
Rubbish.
What AP said.