HRT denies fighting for F1 survival

HRT has denied reports it is fighting for survival.

At Monaco, F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said in an interview with a British newspaper that he was working to help the struggling Spanish outfit make it through its debut season.

But team owner Jose Ramon Carabante responded: “For sure it (the comments) is not about us, maybe he is talking about other teams that do not have sponsors.

“We have no financial problems and we are already thinking about 2011,” he told the Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS in Monaco.

However, given the collapse of the team’s relationship with its car designer Dallara, Finland’s Turun Sanomat predicts that HRT will run out of spare parts by June’s Canadian grand prix.

It has already been suggested that the lack of spare parts explains why Bruno Senna’s car has not been repaired since a problem at the rear developed in Spain a week ago.

The situation means the Brazilian rookie would have been only tenth on the GP2 practice timesheets on Thursday.

Nicolas Todt hinted in Monaco that his GP2 team ART has much higher ambitions should the FIA, led by his father Jean, grant the team the 13th team place for 2011.

“We do not want to be seven seconds behind.  If we did not have the budget, we would not be doing it,” the Frenchman told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

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