Autosport Plus

How Hispania made it to the grid in 2010

This is the incredible story of how HRT went from a disparate group of people and a couple of empty chassis to a fully operational grand prix team in just three weeks

Three weeks before the opening qualifying session of the year, two race cars are in bits, slowly collecting dust in an Italian factory. They sit forlornly as Dallara engineers scurry around working on other projects; nothing has been done on the cars for the past month as the financial tap has dried up.

But after a midnight rendezvous, telephone calls to Bernie Ecclestone, the arrival of an experienced F1 troubleshooter and the investment of a well-known Spanish family, work once again commences on the cars. Just one week later, they are freighted on a 3,000-mile trip to Bahrain where they will both qualify for the opening grand prix of the year.