The HRT F1 squad have admitted that they are "surprised" by the announcement from Toyota Motorsport that they would not be proceeding with a planned technical link-up for 2011, but issued no further details over the cancellation.
The former Toyota F1 team confirmed on Monday that they had cancelled plans for a full technical linkup with the backmarking Hispania team from the start of 2011 because of HRT's failure to meet "contractual payment obligations".The link-up would have seen the Spanish team gain the rights to use the unraced 2010 Toyota F1 car design, as well as giving them use of their Cologne HQ.
Toyota's F1 operation has continued to work on roadcar-based projects since they withdrew from the sport at the end of the 2009 season.
And after Toyota's announcement on Monday, Hispania released a brief counter-statement, suggesting simply that they were "surprised" by the Toyota decision, and that they would be looking for "clarification" on the reasons behind it.
"Hispania Racing is very surprised about Toyota's press statement released this afternoon and this matter will be a subject of further clarification," the brief Tuesday statement from the team read.
The breakdown of the Toyota deal, which would have seen HRT base their 2011 car around the unraced Toyota model, has brought into question the Spanish team's ability to field a car for 2011.
The start of the 2011 pre-season testing schedule is now less than three months away, but if HRT had been planning their entire second season around the Toyota designs, it is unlikely that they could design and manufacture a brand new car in the time they have available.
The team's 2010 challenger was designed by Dallara, but they parted company with the Italian team shortly after the start of the season, after a breakdown in the relationship between the two.
The announcement that payment issues played a key role in Toyota's decision to pull out of their agreement with HRT has also seen the team's precarious financial position brought under new scrutiny.
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