The Hispania Racing Team have confirmed that they have officially ended their technical agreement with the Italian chassis manufacturer Dallara, after the constructor designed the team's uncompetitive F110 car for the 2010 season.
The relationship between Dallara and HRT has been strained for some time, with the pre-season period full of rumours that the team had missed payments to Dallara that ended up delaying the company's design schedule.
Since the start of the season, the car has been heavily criticised by new technical consultant Geoff Willis and Friday test driver Christian Klien, who both questioned the quality of the finished Dallara product. Willis claimed he was "disappointed" by the end product, while the team's business manager Manfredi Ravetto was quoted as calling the F110 a "total mess".
And now the team has confirmed that they would be seeking an alternative technical deal for the 2011 season, ending their deal with Dallara.
"HRT F1 Team, Hispania Racing, and Italian chassis manufacturer Dallara Automobili S.p.A have together agreed on amicable terms not to pursue their collaboration," a statement from the team released on Wednesday read.
"The decision follows talks held over the last few months about the future of their collaboration."
The statement thanked Dallara for their work in getting the car to the season-opener in Bahrain, after the pre-season financial issues had delayed the team's preparations and forced them to skip the entire pre-season testing programme.
"The two partners experienced a challenging start to the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship season, where everyone at Dallara Automobili S.p.A worked extremely hard in a fight against time to be ready for the season opener at Bahrain International Circuit," the statement explained.
"Their persistent and determined efforts paid off as HRT F1 Team, Hispania Racing, pulled up to the starting line of the 2010 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix ready to go.
"The whirlwind of pre-season activity at the Italian chassis constructor Dallara Automobili allowed the team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 prior to its acquisition by Jose Ramon Carabante in February 2010, to meet its tight deadline."
However, there was also thinly veiled criticism in the statement, pointing out the complete lack of development of the F110 since the start of the season.
It said that: "Since its inaugural race HRT F1 Team, Hispania Racing, has completed six rounds of the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship despite the fact that in all this time no further chassis development was made by Dallara.
"The collaboration, deemed by many to be an impossible task, resulted in the creation of the team's Cosworth V8 powered 2010 Formula 1 World Championship chassis, the F110, which was the very first car to be produced in the colours of HRT F1 Team, Hispania Racing.
"Following the completion of six rounds of the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship, HRT F1 Team, Hispania Racing, and Dallara Automobili S.p.A have agreed that what they have achieved in such a short period of time was more than could have been reasonably expected.
"The two parties wish each other the best of luck in all future endeavours."
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