Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi both complained of significant tyre degradation after today’s European Grand Prix, with the Hispania Racing duo being forced to make three visits to the pit lane as a result of their issues. Both men finished three laps down at the end of the race, with Liuzzi ultimately beating Karthikeyan to the chequered flag.
"As expected, the car was quite difficult to drive in the race because of the heat; the rear tyres were degrading a lot and we had the same braking problems as the whole weekend," Karthikeyan explained. "At the beginning I was trying to keep with the pack, with Liuzzi and d’Ambrosio, but after seven laps I locked the front and after that I had a lonely race.
"I finished the race but there aren’t many positives I can take away from it. Obviously our performance wasn’t the best but the local support has been great and we were hoping for more here."
"It was a really difficult race for us because we were struggling with the rear tyres," Liuzzi added. "We knew since Friday that it would be difficult because we were overheating the rear and this was wearing the tyres out even more and that is why we were forced to do a three stop strategy.
"Unfortunately, we were unable to cope with the Virgins. In the first two stints we were fighting with them but then, because we stopped one more time than them, we were struggling to fight with them.
"We need to fight hard if we want to keep up with the pace of our competitors, we need to improve and work hard day and night. It’s a shame because we were in front of our crowd, they have been fantastic with us but we need to push for the rest of the season."
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
Narain Karthikeyan
Vitantonio Liuzzi
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:39:36.169 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +10.891 |
| 3. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +27.255 |
| 4. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +46.190 |
| 5. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +51.705 |
| 6. | J. Button | McLaren | +1:00.065 |
| 7. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +1:38.090 |
| 8. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | +1 Lap |
| 9. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1 Lap |
| 10. | N. Heidfeld | Lotus Renault | +1 Lap |
| Full results | |||
| Vitantonio Liuzzi | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Vitantonio Liuzzi photos | |||
| Narain Karthikeyan | |||
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| More Narain Karthikeyan photos | |||
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