HRT celebrates 'best ever' race

Liuzzi's team-mate Narain Karthikeyan crossed the line in 14th, adding to Hispania's delight, but was later hit with a 20-second time penalty for forcing Virgin driver Timo Glock off-track on the last lap.

"It was a crazy race. The crazier it is the more we like it though," said Liuzzi. "It was a great result for us, for everybody in the team, because we've done everything right since Saturday, when we had a great result in qualifying."

The team's weekend had been looking bright ever since that qualifying result, when Liuzzi outqualified both Virgins to start 21st and Karthikeyan lined up ahead of Jerome D'Ambrosio in 23rd.

The pair also looked more competitive than they have been before during the race.

"It's a great feeling to overtake other cars, we're always focused on challenging our nearest rivals, but this race was crazy because we were able to overtake much faster cars," added Liuzzi. "All you needed to do was be smooth and under control."

"The pitstops have been good, everything went well. We're positive, because all the updates worked, and now we have to keep pushing to get more for the following races."

Team boss Colin Kolles was also overjoyed with the team's performance, calling it a "step forward" in Hispania's attempts to reach 10th place in the constructors' championship.

"Today we achieved our best result in the history of Hispania Racing," said Kolles. "It was a great race with a positive ending for the team. We made a step forward in terms of performance and in the championship position."

Karthikeyan's penalty dropped him three places to 17th, meaning he was eventually classified behind the Virgin duo and Trulli.