Saturday: HRT will taste the Malaysian tarmac during the race

Pedro de la Rosa – 23rd and 23rd

« It was a good day. Since the first round this morning, I know the car has improved considerably and we have improved our times significantly. We have progressed by more than a second since yesterday and each time we modify something, we go faster. We could have done better times in qualifying. I was only able to do one lap, but it was enough. The important thing was to qualify, and we did it. The team proved that in a short period of time, it was capable of having the DRS ready and improving power steering and other aspects of the car. We have made great progress, and I am very satisfied with it. Now, we have to wait and see how it goes tomorrow over long distances, because it will be the first time we do so many laps, which won’t be easy with this weather. »

Narain Karthikeyan – 24th and 24th

« The conditions have changed a lot since this morning and the track was more slippery, but we qualified for the race and that was our primary goal for the weekend. We had to slightly change our strategy today due to an overheating issue and it worked, but from now on we need to focus on resolving these issues and aim to finish the race. It would be good for us if it rained, because it would cool the car down a bit, but despite that, we have to do our best and try to achieve a good performance. »

Luis Pérez-Sala, team director

« I am satisfied with the day. It could have been better, but we accomplished our first goal which was to improve the car and qualify for the race. In Australia, after all the work we put in, it was hard to fail for so little. But we kept giving it our all and, in a few days, we made significant progress. We still have a lot to do and tomorrow we’ll have another opportunity, but the important thing is to be closer to the others in terms of timing. In this way, we will identify our problems and fix them as quickly as possible, as we did here. I am very proud of the work done by every team member. »