Liuzzi completes Hispania deal

[ArrowsFA1]

Hispania has confirmed that Tonio Liuzzi will be its second driver this year, as the Italian's signing completes the 2011 Formula 1 line-up.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89816

[Dave B]

Fair enough. What happens after a few races if he doesn't pay the bills - who will replace him? :p

[pino]

Not the best car on grid but still a car, good luck to him !

[RS]

As I said in the HRT launch thread: Don't really understand the mentality of that unless he is paying. He sometimes struggled to even get the Force India out of Q1 last year. Still, he should outperform his team mate.

[Donney]

And good news for Hispania, he is a driver with some Kms under his belt and should help the team to move forward.

[N. Jones]

For those in or looking to enter the forums FGP:

I have added Liuzzi to the price list with a rate of 3 million.

[Dave B]

For those in or looking to enter the forums FGP:

I have added Liuzzi to the price list with a rate of 3 million.

Is that how much he pays us? :p

[steveaki13]

Fair enough. What happens after a few races if he doesn't pay the bills - who will replace him?

I heard someone suggest a J. Villeneuve.

People said we couldn't keep his name out of the frame. :p :p:

[woody2goody]

As much as I've always stuck up for Liuzzi, I think Klien is better - plus he helped develop the car last year. Not the first time the Austrian has been swindled out of a drive IMO.

[ioan]

As much as I've always stuck up for Liuzzi, I think Klien is better - plus he helped develop the car last year. Not the first time the Austrian has been swindled out of a drive IMO.

It's all about the money one brings!

[Robinho]

I think that liuzzi and hispania are pretty well matched, good luck to them both, they'll need it

[DexDexter]

To me signing Liuzzi gives HRT a lot more credibility. He has had his ups and downs but he is a proper, pretty experienced F1 driver. Applause to Hispania.

[keysersoze]

Rats! I'm mildly disappointed Klien didn't get the seat.

[jso1985]

Better than nothing for Liuzzi I guess, taking count the very low rate of experienced drivers who were able to re-launch their career driving for backmarkers.

[CNR]

I wonder if force india is paying for the year
breach of contract $$$$$$$$$$ be cheaper to pay for him for the year at Hispania $$$$$$

[Tazio]

Rats! I'm mildly disappointed Klien didn't get the seat.

Same here. I hope he gets another shot!

[jens]

Fair enough. What happens after a few races if he doesn't pay the bills - who will replace him? :p

Does Liuzzi really pay for his seat? Somehow I doubt about that.

Which makes the signing surprising to me - I didn't expect HRT to attract such a competent driver for themselves. Even if Tonio has been underwhelming in better teams, for a hopeless backmarker he is as good as you can get. But perhaps Narain and TATA are paying so much that HRT could afford to take another driver basically for free.

Also quite a good benchmark for Karthikeyan. Let's see, how (un)competitive he is after all those years out of F1. Perhaps in qualifying sessions he can at times beat Liuzzi considering either driver's strengths and weaknesses.

[Hawkmoon]

Sometimes it seems that it's harder to leave F1 than it is to get into it. With all due respect to Liuzzi, his performances have not warranted a continued drive in F1. If HRT were looking for an expereinced driver then De La Rosa would seem to be a better option. He's no slower than Liuzzi and has a wealth of McLaren expereince behind him. Maybe he wasn't interested?

[gloomyDAY]

Sometimes it seems that it's harder to leave F1 than it is to get into it. With all due respect to Liuzzi, his performances have not warranted a continued drive in F1. If HRT were looking for an expereinced driver then De La Rosa would seem to be a better option. He's no slower than Liuzzi and has a wealth of McLaren expereince behind him. Maybe he wasn't interested?I thought Pedro was back with McLaren, no?

[DexDexter]

Sometimes it seems that it's harder to leave F1 than it is to get into it. With all due respect to Liuzzi, his performances have not warranted a continued drive in F1. If HRT were looking for an expereinced driver then De La Rosa would seem to be a better option. He's no slower than Liuzzi and has a wealth of McLaren expereince behind him. Maybe he wasn't interested?

There really weren't any better options available to HRT. Klien doesn't have a better CV than Liuzzi F1 since he really didn't perform at Red Bull and De La Rosa is simply too old and wasn't impressive against Kobayashi, a mediocre at best.

[Mark]

His name has been added to the pickems list - if you really think it's likely he'll feature in the top 8 :p

[Donney]

As far as I know De la Rosa was not able to find the money for the seat....

[truefan72]

Fair enough. What happens after a few races if he doesn't pay the bills - who will replace him? :p

same guy as last year

[truefan72]

And good news for Hispania, he is a driver with some Kms under his belt and should help the team to move forward.

klien and Chandhock have KM's under their belt, and Nk has had a full season at Jordan so the thing about experience is overblown, especially if the only experience you have is about under-performing your entire career and having an ego that far exceeds his talent. To me Liuzzi has had more than his fair shot in F1 and has severely failed to impress. This is a money thing to me, no matter how he pretends it isn;t, the delay in the announcement was due to the sponsorship details having to be ironed out.

[truefan72]

I wonder if force india is paying for the year
breach of contract $$$$$$$$$$ be cheaper to pay for him for the year at Hispania $$$$$$

that might explain his signing, although I think that liuzzi brought money to the table

[truefan72]

There really weren't any better options available to HRT. Klien doesn't have a better CV than Liuzzi F1 since he really didn't perform at Red Bull and De La Rosa is simply too old and wasn't impressive against Kobayashi, a mediocre at best.

Klien's CV is miles better than Liuzzi's and in the year that they shared the drive, it was no match, hands down klien was the better driver, and still is IMO

[woody2goody]

Klien's CV is miles better than Liuzzi's and in the year that they shared the drive, it was no match, hands down klien was the better driver, and still is IMO

In the interest of fairness, Liuzzi was a rookie then and Klien wasn't, although I still agree that Klien's better.

[RS]

I too would have preferred Klien to get this seat. He did a good job for Hispania last year despite being rusty whereas Liuzzi didn't do so great for Force India.

Liuzzi was very evasive about answering whether he paid for this drive and how long the contract is for, so I think it is a case of the drive is his for as long as he can pay.

However I doubt either Klien or Liuzzi are/would be paying big bucks (like Karthikeyan) for this drive so it is good to see Hispania not just 'taking the money' Surely there are some moneyed chaps in GP2 who could have paid quite a bit for this drive?

[jens]

I don't know, why are people so fascinated by Klien. He got a clear beating by Coulthard. Maybe over the years he has improved (although without racing that would have been difficult to do), but CV-wise he is actually worse than Liuzzi. The Italian has a F3000 title to his name and had very high expectations early in his career. Klien has never been a big future talent.

[pino]

I don't know, why are people so fascinated by Klien. He got a clear beating by Coulthard. Maybe over the years he has improved (although without racing that would have been difficult to do), but CV-wise he is actually worse than Liuzzi. The Italian has a F3000 title to his name and had very high expectations early in his career. Klien has never been a big future talent.

Reason is that nowdays people are tired of eating spaghetti and lasagne...they prefere hamburger and fish&chips :p :

[DexDexter]

Klien's CV is miles better than Liuzzi's and in the year that they shared the drive, it was no match, hands down klien was the better driver, and still is IMO

Miles is a pretty strong expression, I mean drive-sharing isn't the best environment for a driver to perform and one must remember Klien was overshadowed by David Coulthard (well past his prime). LIuzzi has been put into very tough situations in the past, at Toro Rosso the Tost-guy was "sacking" him and Speed all the time and things were very uncertain. They should've taken both Klien and LIuzzi and we would both be happy, right? :)


I don't know, why are people so fascinated by Klien. He got a clear beating by Coulthard. Maybe over the years he has improved (although without racing that would have been difficult to do), but CV-wise he is actually worse than Liuzzi. The Italian has a F3000 title to his name and had very high expectations early in his career. Klien has never been a big future talent.

What about Ant Davidson, Jens? :p Some people just pop up no matter what.

[truefan72]

I don't know, why are people so fascinated by Klien. He got a clear beating by Coulthard. Maybe over the years he has improved (although without racing that would have been difficult to do), but CV-wise he is actually worse than Liuzzi. The Italian has a F3000 title to his name and had very high expectations early in his career. Klien has never been a big future talent.

Maybe I should had, #1 in kindergarten building blocks competition, and voted a future talent in middle school. That is clearly going to make me look better than others in the job market.
Listen, this is about what they have done in F1 and in that case, Klien has accomplished more than Liuzzi and with a more limited opportunity. I'm high on Klien because I think that he is a decent driver and has shown to be the case given his opportunities. Meanwhile Liuzzi has managed to parley this undeserved reputation as a talent into an unspectacular career in F1. He is all ego and little talent. How he manages to continue being employed is beyond me. Last year his teamate was regularly fighting to be in the top 10 in qualy while he was struggling to stay out of the bottom 7. and in the races delivered next to nothing.

[woody2goody]

Maybe I should had, #1 in kindergarten building blocks competition, and voted a future talent in middle school. That is clearly going to make me look better than others in the job market.
Listen, this is about what they have done in F1 and in that case, Klien has accomplished more than Liuzzi and with a more limited opportunity. I'm high on Klien because I think that he is a decent driver and has shown to be the case given his opportunities. Meanwhile Liuzzi has managed to parley this undeserved reputation as a talent into an unspectacular career in F1. He is all ego and little talent. How he manages to continue being employed is beyond me. Last year his teamate was regularly fighting to be in the top 10 in qualy while he was struggling to stay out of the bottom 7. and in the races delivered next to nothing.

While I agree with most of this, Liuzzi is one of those drivers who gets bad luck when he does have a really good day. Monza 2009 when he was top 6 or 7 in his first race back before a mechanical failure, and Canada 2010 when Massa punted him off three or four times after qualifying P5 come to mind.

[Garry Walker]

Liuzzi just refuses to go away, no matter what. But I guess a team at that level and a driver at that level are a great match.


What about Ant Davidson, Jens? :p Some people just pop up no matter what.
Ahh, ant. What is this dude, who his fanboys (both of them) hyped to be faster than Button, doing these days?

[Dave B]

Ahh, ant. What is this dude, who his fanboys (both of them) hyped to be faster than Button, doing these days?
He won the 12 Hours of Sebring last year (along with fellow ex-F1 drivers Alex Wurz and Marc Gene). I don't know how that ranks in your opinion, but I'd say it's not too shabby.

[jens]

Listen, this is about what they have done in F1 and in that case, Klien has accomplished more than Liuzzi and with a more limited opportunity.

I'm not sure, how you can say Klien has accomplished more. He got one fortunate fifth position in a race with safety car interference. And the cars he has raced with, have been at least as good as Liuzzi's cars. Limited opportunity? Klien got 3 seasons (minus a few races) in F1, Liuzzi has got about 3.5 seasons, when we count partly seasons. Not that much of a difference?

By the way, I remember back in late-2007 both Klien and Liuzzi participated in a shootout for the Force India seat. Eventually Liuzzi was chosen above him for the reserve seat.

[Malbec]

I don't know, why are people so fascinated by Klien. He got a clear beating by Coulthard. Maybe over the years he has improved (although without racing that would have been difficult to do), but CV-wise he is actually worse than Liuzzi. The Italian has a F3000 title to his name and had very high expectations early in his career. Klien has never been a big future talent.

Thats the thing isn't it? Liuzzi has often underperformed on paper but he's admired within the industry. After all having lost his seat at STR he got a seat at Force India which when he signed up was a podium scoring team. They had enough faith in him to sign him for two years straight before di Resta came with his free KERS to turf him out.

Not only that but Kubica proposed Liuzzi to take his seat at Renault as an alternative to Heidfeld. He wouldn't have done that without conviction.

I don't think there's a better driver in F1 that HRT could reasonably have gotten their hands on. I just wonder if Tata will get annoyed when their boy gets consistently outperformed.

[Garry Walker]

He won the 12 Hours of Sebring last year (along with fellow ex-F1 drivers Alex Wurz and Marc Gene). I don't know how that ranks in your opinion, but I'd say it's not too shabby.
Well, certain people hyped him up to be faster than Button and kept on going about that. Button is now a world champion and "ant" is winning races in series that most people dont care about with other F1 rejects (sorry, but that is what they are).


Thats the thing isn't it? Liuzzi has often underperformed on paper but he's admired within the industry. After all having lost his seat at STR he got a seat at Force India which when he signed up was a podium scoring team. They had enough faith in him to sign him for two years straight before di Resta came with his free KERS to turf him out.

Not only that but Kubica proposed Liuzzi to take his seat at Renault as an alternative to Heidfeld. He wouldn't have done that without conviction.

I don't think there's a better driver in F1 that HRT could reasonably have gotten their hands on. I just wonder if Tata will get annoyed when their boy gets consistently outperformed.
Kubica proposed Liuzzi, because he knows that Heidfeld is quality, whereas Liuzzi would have failed. And no driver wants someone quality to take their seat.
I am sure Narain will get his ass kicked, but that is because of him being very bad, not because Liuzzi is special or something.

[DexDexter]

Well, certain people hyped him up to be faster than Button and kept on going about that. Button is now a world champion and "ant" is winning races in series that most people dont care about with other F1 rejects (sorry, but that is what they are).


Kubica proposed Liuzzi, because he knows that Heidfeld is quality, whereas Liuzzi would have failed. And no driver wants someone quality to take their seat.
I am sure Narain will get his ass kicked, but that is because of him being very bad, not because Liuzzi is special or something.

You're not giving Robert enough credit, he's much tougher guy than that.

[BDunnell]

You're not giving Robert enough credit, he's much tougher guy than that.

Nor enough credit to those in other formulae, but given how many fans (not enthusiasts) are so blinkered towards other forms of racing these days, maybe that's not surprising.

[Malbec]

Kubica proposed Liuzzi, because he knows that Heidfeld is quality, whereas Liuzzi would have failed.

Kubica proposed both.

[woody2goody]

I don't think Narain is such a bad driver, but Liuzzi should beat him - at least if he wants to ever get another drive in F1.

[Garry Walker]

I don't think Narain is such a bad driver, but Liuzzi should beat him - at least if he wants to ever get another drive in F1.

Narain couldnt even beat Tiago Monteiro at Jordan, so he is a pretty bad driver. Liuzzi must dominate him completely, otherwise even his fanboys such as Joe Saward will have to accept the truth.

[ioan]

I don't know, why are people so fascinated by Klien. He got a clear beating by Coulthard. Maybe over the years he has improved (although without racing that would have been difficult to do), but CV-wise he is actually worse than Liuzzi. The Italian has a F3000 title to his name and had very high expectations early in his career. Klien has never been a big future talent.

Comparing a rookie Klien to Coulthard in his 10+ season is somewhat overblown, eh?!

[ArrowsFA1]

Liuzzi completes Hispania deal to drive what?

HRT are turning into the Andrea Moda of the paddock.

[Dave B]

One lap in a car which doesn't stand a chance of hitting 107% tomorrow. Last year was understandable but there's no excuse this year.

As five live said, they're this bad with a 2 week delay to the season. Imagine how rubbish they'd have been in Bahrain!

[Garry Walker]

One lap in a car which doesn't stand a chance of hitting 107% tomorrow. Last year was understandable but there's no excuse this year.

As five live said, they're this bad with a 2 week delay to the season. Imagine how rubbish they'd have been in Bahrain!

We probably would have seen them miss every session and hopefully get banned from f1, but no such luck. Disgraceful that they are allowed to be in F1.

[BDunnell]

Perhaps running the Mastercard Lolas from 1997 would be a step forward.

[jens]

Regarding the Kubica thing... I have heard suggestions - and I think they sound quite logical - that Kubica proposed Liuzzi, because their driving styles are similar. Kubica is certainly interested that when he comes back in 2012, he will manage to adapt quickly back to F1 and the car has characteristics he likes, because during 2011 it will be Petrov and the replacement driver giving feedback to engineers and influencing 2012 car development. Whether Liuzzi or Heidfeld scores good points for Renault in 2011 is an unimportant issue for him.


Comparing a rookie Klien to Coulthard in his 10+ season is somewhat overblown, eh?!

Klien was on his 2nd and 3rd seasons, not a complete rookie. I would agree that a driver failing to match an experienced driver on his debut season isn't the end of the world, but three seasons should be enough.

[steveaki13]

Perhaps running the Mastercard Lolas from 1997 would be a step forward.

I thought of them while watching the sessions today.

I wonder if after failing to Qualify tomorrow they may go the same way.

[DexDexter]

I thought of them while watching the sessions today.

I wonder if after failing to Qualify tomorrow they may go the same way.

HRT are much much faster than Mastercard Lola ever were. A good performance from them today, both cars up and running for several laps after no testing at all. When (IF) they get their new front wing and some more track time, they'll qualify for the races.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Liuzzi was two seconds off the Virgin in what really was a shakedown. I expect the HRT be on Virgin's level in a couple of races. Lotus is a bigger dissapointment, they are now two seconds off the midfield.

[truefan72]

HRT are much much faster than Mastercard Lola ever were. A good performance from them today, both cars up and running for several laps after no testing at all. When (IF) they get their new front wing and some more track time, they'll qualify for the races.

yep, I too thought they acquitted themselves admirably

[truefan72]

Liuzzi was two seconds off the Virgin in what really was a shakedown. I expect the HRT be on Virgin's level in a couple of races. Lotus is a bigger dissapointment, they are now two seconds off the midfield.

I think Lotus had some nagging problems with the car that didn't allow them to show their true pace. I expect a better race performance and by Malaysia a much improved overall performance

[steveaki13]

Turned out Liuzzi did pretty well and Karthikeyan well he just needs more laps.

I assume they will not get a reprive to race this weekend?

It looks as though Liuzzi may Qualify in the next few races.

Just hope they can keep going while they don't get to race.

[DexDexter]

I think Lotus had some nagging problems with the car that didn't allow them to show their true pace. I expect a better race performance and by Malaysia a much improved overall performance

Heikki said they couldn't get any heat into the tires and were just sliding around.

[RS]

I assume they will not get a reprive to race this weekend?


It's now been confirmed that they will not be allowed to race.

I think that's the right decision on this occasion, a few tenths outside might be ok but not a few seconds.

Some of you said they did well in the circumstances which may be true but it was themselves that got them in those circumstances.

Seems all three new teams from last year are suffering "difficult second season" syndrome. None of them had such problems qualifying last year. I guess trying to design and build a new car at the same time as racing at the end of last year was tough. Plus of course none of them have KERS.

[Robinho]

It's now been confirmed that they will not be allowed to race.

I think that's the right decision on this occasion, a few tenths outside might be ok but not a few seconds.

Some of you said they did well in the circumstances which may be true but it was themselves that got them in those circumstances.

Seems all three new teams from last year are suffering "difficult second season" syndrome. None of them had such problems qualifying last year. I guess trying to design and build a new car at the same time as racing at the end of last year was tough. Plus of course none of them have KERS.

They didn't have 107% last year.

given the track time Hispania did ok, and they might be able to qualify after some proper track time in pratice sessions. i guess the next race is key for that, if they fail there they may as well pack up and go home, the other teams aren't going to wait aound for them to catch up

[RS]

They didn't have 107% last year.


Ooops, yeah. Did forget that but even so I can't remember any of them being that far off the pace last year?

[Robinho]

i think Hispania were outside the theoretical 107% a few time last year, possibly Virgin as well, but i'm not certain. I wasn't a regular thing from memory

[DazzlaF1]

i think Hispania were outside the theoretical 107% a few time last year, possibly Virgin as well, but i'm not certain. I wasn't a regular thing from memory

HRT were regularly slower than the 107% cut off last year but improved a lot as the season progressed, Virgin I remember were always comfortably within the 107 target as were Lotus

[woody2goody]

i think Hispania were outside the theoretical 107% a few time last year, possibly Virgin as well, but i'm not certain. I wasn't a regular thing from memory

Bahrain for sure, I think they were slow in Malaysia as well.

[woody2goody]

i think Hispania were outside the theoretical 107% a few time last year, possibly Virgin as well, but i'm not certain. I wasn't a regular thing from memory

Bahrain for sure. I think they were really slow at Malaysia and Hungary as well.