New HRT still yet to pass crash tests

HRT’s 2012 car is still not ready to test, team driver Narain Karthikeyan has clarified.

While the struggling Spanish team ran with its 2011 car at the recent Jerez test, the new single seater failed to pass two of the mandatory FIA crash tests.

It means the machine cannot run this week at Barcelona test, prompting HRT to pull out of the second group test altogether.

Karthikeyan and his teammate Pedro de la Rosa now hope the car is ready to run for the second week of Barcelona running — the last test before Melbourne.

Spain’s AS sports daily reported at the weekend that the car’s problems have indeed been rectified, and the crash tests will not be an issue next time around.

But Karthikeyan admitted on Twitter that the car "still" has to "pass the crash tests".

"Everyone knows the final Barca test is important," he added.

De la Rosa, meanwhile, told AS that the 2012 car has a "step on the nose like nearly everyone, but it’s less ugly" than the others.