HRT has failed in its bid to get its car ready in time to make the final day of preseason testing at Barcelona on Sunday, but the team still hopes to get some mileage on the car before the Australian Grand Prix.
The Spanish squad successfully passed its crash tests last weekend, and had hoped to be able to complete its F112 so it could join this week's Barcelona test tomorrow. However, work on the car could not be finished in time for the team to be able to transport it from Greding in Germany by this morning, which means that it will not make it in time to be ready to run before the test finishes.
Although no official testing is allowed after Sunday, HRT is hoping to complete a filming day at Barcelona on Monday instead. According to F1's Sporting Regulations, teams are allowed to run their cars during the period of the test ban for "promotional events carried out using tires provided specifically for this purpose by the appointed supplier." Although that means any running HRT does on Monday will not be on Pirelli's 2012 rubber, it would at least allow the team to get some valuable mileage on its car prior to first practice in Melbourne.
Since HRT's inception three years ago, the team has still yet to run a newly unveiled car in an official preseason test, although for the past two years it has been present at some with a year-old car.