Pedro de la Rosa was the first driver confirmed by the team for 2012, this was a move to take on a more Spanish identity. Next logical relationship between the team and the "new" wanted spanish identity, was to think about Jamie Alguersuari as a second driver, who was replaced at Toro Rosso, but Eeckelaert told that he didn't think Alguersuari or Dani Clos would be the best option for HRT.
"I don't think it's in the interests of the team to have a second Spanish driver," Eeckelaert said. "The same goes for the drivers approaching retirement."
Eeckelaert is almost ruling out to have Tonio Liuzzi in the team for another season, ending the hopes of the italian of remaining with the team. Eeckelaert said:"He hasn't really confirmed himself after several chances. We are looking more for a young driver with a lot of potential."
One of the most important steps taken by the new management of the team has been to move the team headquarters to Spain, and Eeckelaert claims that it would hurt HRT's progress because they need to hire new staff that will have to work on the car.
"We hope to continue our battle at the back of the pack with Virgin (Marussia). It is difficult to aim higher. The Dallara chassis we used in our first two seasons was clearly not good enough. So in our German workshop we have built our own HRT to be powered by the Cosworth V8. We started fresh in September, later than the others, and so we cannot have fantasies.
"The new owners decided to move the team with the result that 90 per cent of the staff in Germany will not follow us. This is unfortunate because even if the car did not work, the team was beginning to work well together. Now it's as though we are beginning again with a new team."
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