grumpyf1

Vitantonio Liuzzi! Woo! Yeah! And the lucky Italian gets to drive... an HRT! Oh, hang on. That's not very good though, is it? Mind you, anyone who ever, in the whole history of time, sported a hair-do like that one seriously deserves a place in the crappiest car on the grid. Actually that's a bit unfair. We have no evidence that they've actually got a car for the Force India reject to drive. Liuzzi (as previously mentioned in my Team Fifi article) dumped Mr Style, even though he had a contract for another year, so that they could stick that Scottish lad with the un-Scottish name (di Resta) in the car instead. Tonio underperformed seriously, as he seems to have done for most of his time in F1 (He was in a Red Bull at one point, lest we forget), so perhaps Hispania are his last chance to prove himself. If he gets thrashed by his new team-mate Karthikeyan, it'll definitely be game over. Having said that, we're not even sure if it's game on yet, are we? Can HR...

Hispania have been announced dead and buried so many times, you's think they'd change their name to Zombie F1. And whilst they "launched" their new car the other day, it isn't actually going to appear until the testing immediately before the first race. Like last year. If they make it at all. And it's not clear if the car pictured above with the snazzy paint job actually exists, or if that's last year's car with a spray-job, or even just a nice computer-generated image. Still - it looks the part, doesn't it? Not like last year's cars that looked like someone forgot to finish the painting after they'd put the undercoat on. Surprisingly, they did manage to finish quite a few races last year, but had a variety of cash-friendly drivers. They've only announced Narain Karthikeyan so far, so a seat is still free. It says "This could be you" on the sidepod. I've got £30 in my wallet and I'm free most Sunday's... Li...

Hispania have left FOTA (The Formula One Teams Association). They've apparently cited the fact that it's really for the big teams, and them being tiddlers and all that, it doesn't really work for them, thanks very much. The counter-argument seems to be that HRT actually failed to cough-up the requisite dosh to continue their membership. Either way, this is all very Formula 1, isn't it? Not long after any agreement between the teams that they will/won't do something, someone does/doesn't do precisely that, and it gradually starts to fall apart, with factions forming, and everyone bitching at each other in the media. There will be outrageous claims, vitriolic statements, pompous claims of self-worth and how F1 can't survive without them etc etc. And that's just Ferrari. You love it, don't you? Naughty boys and girls.... (Banging toons supplied this evening by a Best Of The Eighties collection, currently Blondie's Call Me. Ooo. Debbie Harry ...

Funny old game, Formula 1. At the start of last season, you would have happily concluded that Karun Chandhok would be the likely candidate for sole Indian driver in 2011. He now seems unlikely to get a seat this year, and instead Narain Kathikeyan has landed a drive at Hispania. Karthikeyan last drove in F1 five years ago. If you want an idea of how long that is in real terms, he was driving for Jordan at the time. Yes, it's that long ago. He didn't exactly shine then, and whilst the ever-optimistic (because he has no choice) Mr Kolles reckons he'll be even better now, that seems pretty unlikely. I'm guessing that instead of his talent growing, his sponsorship pot has, with India providing the venue for a new race this season. That makes him attractive to a team struggling to even find a shoestring, let alone run on one. However, it gives me the excellent opportunity to get into Marketing Mode and think of a snappy headline should Narain make it to testing in a few ...

I'm not sure why I like the Hispania Racing Team. Is it because they called themselves HRT, even though they knew the high titter-factor in the UK? Is it because they just made it to the first race with Chandhok not even having run the car before quali? The comedic driver swaps? Maybe it's that supporting-the-underdog thing that meant I adored Minardi. Who knows. Anyway, it looks like I may not have to worry about it for much longer. Toyota were apparently in a deal to hand over their un-raced 2010 car to Hispania for 2011 in return for some wonga. They recently issued a statement which pretty much said "no cash, no car, you gits" and finished with a metaphorical "and don't try coming back either". Rumours have now surfaced that the team's owners are putting Hispania up for sale. That should raise about a tenner then. Likelihood of the team being on the grid next year? Lower than a dacshund's wotsits methinks.... (Tonight it's the b...

Poor guy. He looked a bit lost chatting to the BBC F1 crew last weekend after Yamamoto pinched his motor, and it seems the same thing will happen to him again this weekend, as Hispania continue to "rotate" their drivers (and they haven't even got to Christian Klien yet). Tough gig being in a small, cash-strapped team. Still, being the only Indian driver in F1, I'm sure he'll get a seat somewhere if Hispania decide not to bother with him at all next year. Big old marketplace is India, and F1 likes big old marketplaces big time. (Tootling out of *gasp* the laptop tonight (via headphones) are a fine selection of mash-ups. Oooo. Get me. I'm so street.)

Well, they finally made it, albeit under a different name. Campos became Hispania, and today they finally launched their car (although this is the only photo I've found of it so far). They couldn't have left it much later and neither of their drivers will have driven the car when they turn up for the 1st race in a week's time. Not exactly a promising start, is it? With US F1 not making it though, at least we do have 2 more teams than last season. The car has been built by Dallara, so assumingly Hispania will need to take it back to the dealership for a change of oil and a service at some point. Drivers? Well, Bruno Senna we know about already (2nd in GP2 in 2008) but Karun Chandhok is even less spectacular, having won 3 races in GP2 in the last 2 years. To be fair though, that's not exactly rubbish, is it? Tough gig for the pair of them - let's hope they don't make fools of themselves or the press will have a field day. Someone really should have explained to th...