HRT says second driver decision ’not urgent’

HRT is not rushing to fill one of the last seats on the 2012 grid.

The identity of Pedro de la Rosa’s teammate aside, the only other official vacancy for next season is at Williams.

The latest names linked with HRT are Narain Karthikeyan, Jaime Alguersuari, Vitaly Petrov and Dutchman Giedo van der Garde.

"We are in advanced talks with several drivers but we can’t anticipate anything yet," the team’s new boss Luis Perez Sala, a former Minardi driver, said.

"It’s a decision we surely won’t make until the start of next year because, at this stage, who will be the team’s second driver for next season is perhaps the least urgent one right now."

Having also changed ownership recently, HRT is busily making plans for a new headquarters whilst designing its own 2012 single seater.

"We will feel the effects of this transformation the team is going through and will have ’pay’ for it at the start of the season," Sala warned.

"We’re not going to be at the same level as when we finished this past season, where the same team had been running for two years, but we’re aware of that.

"We’re taking a step back so that we can take two forward."