HRT have just released a Q&A with Narain Karthikeyan in an attempt to feed the media beast during these lean, lean weeks.
You can read it all over the interwebs, and probably already have done, so I won't bother copying any of it here. But it did make me think about the team we spent two years mocking unreservedly.
I've already written about the injustice in some of that mockery, and I don't want to repeat myself. and I don't want to repeat myself. and I don't want to repeat myself.
But while they're still light years away from their first point in Formula One, HRT have been quietly impressing me this season. And it's all down to Luis Perez-Sala, who took on the role of team principal in December 2011.
Unlike many of my colleagues in the paddock, I had no prior experience of Perez-Sala before he joined HRT as a consultant last summer, and so I didn't know what to expect from the Spanish former racer.
He is a softly spoken man, eloquent and self-effacing, and seems to have a wry sense of humour. He gives great sound bites in press conferences, which is always a boon to journalists, and his management style - by all reports - has made him very popular within the team itself.
What Perez-Sala has done, and done well, is to manage expectations. In Formula One, the tendency is to aim high and speak with confidence. We'll score our first point this season. Our car is capable of fighting for regular podiums. Our drivers will be fighting for the championship at the end of the year.
But LPS is breaking F1 success down into a series of achievable goals, and the team is meeting those goals weekend by weekend. Achievement - even on a small scale - is essential to morale.
Sure, you could argue that HRT shouldn't have a checklist of achievement that included such steps as 'be allowed to race', 'pass the 107 percent rule', 'see both cars to the chequered flag'. But we've all got to start somewhere, right?
And now we're half-way through the season, and HRT have taken the fight to Marussia on occasion in qualifying. Their car is reasonably reliable, they're improving it bit by bit, and it's been a while since we had to concern ourselves with their ability to qualify.
They may not be the most successful team on the grid, but they've impressed me nonetheless.
You can read it all over the interwebs, and probably already have done, so I won't bother copying any of it here. But it did make me think about the team we spent two years mocking unreservedly.
I've already written about the injustice in some of that mockery, and I don't want to repeat myself. and I don't want to repeat myself. and I don't want to repeat myself.
But while they're still light years away from their first point in Formula One, HRT have been quietly impressing me this season. And it's all down to Luis Perez-Sala, who took on the role of team principal in December 2011.
Unlike many of my colleagues in the paddock, I had no prior experience of Perez-Sala before he joined HRT as a consultant last summer, and so I didn't know what to expect from the Spanish former racer.
He is a softly spoken man, eloquent and self-effacing, and seems to have a wry sense of humour. He gives great sound bites in press conferences, which is always a boon to journalists, and his management style - by all reports - has made him very popular within the team itself.
What Perez-Sala has done, and done well, is to manage expectations. In Formula One, the tendency is to aim high and speak with confidence. We'll score our first point this season. Our car is capable of fighting for regular podiums. Our drivers will be fighting for the championship at the end of the year.
But LPS is breaking F1 success down into a series of achievable goals, and the team is meeting those goals weekend by weekend. Achievement - even on a small scale - is essential to morale.
Sure, you could argue that HRT shouldn't have a checklist of achievement that included such steps as 'be allowed to race', 'pass the 107 percent rule', 'see both cars to the chequered flag'. But we've all got to start somewhere, right?
And now we're half-way through the season, and HRT have taken the fight to Marussia on occasion in qualifying. Their car is reasonably reliable, they're improving it bit by bit, and it's been a while since we had to concern ourselves with their ability to qualify.
They may not be the most successful team on the grid, but they've impressed me nonetheless.
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