The team began in 2009 as a collaboration between Adrian Campos of Campos Racing and Enrique Rodriguez of Meta Image, a Madrid sports agency. In June 2009 the FIA awarded Campos Meta one of three new entries for the 2010 season, alongside US F1 Team and Manor Grand Prix. The team's headquarters were split between Madrid and Campos Racing's base in Alzira, Valencia. Shareholders included Spanish businessman Jose Ramon Carabante and basketball players Pau Gasol and Jorge Garbajosa.
Italian constructor Dallara was contracted to build the 2010 car, the F110, using Cosworth engines. Bruno Senna — nephew of triple world champion Ayrton Senna — was announced as a driver. However, funding problems emerged almost immediately. By February 2010 the team admitted it might not complete winter testing at all. On 19 February 2010, Carabante assumed full control from Campos, the team was renamed Hispania Racing F1 Team (HRT), and Colin Kolles was installed as team principal. Karun Chandhok was confirmed as the second driver. The renamed team launched their car just days before the first race.
With no pre-season testing completed, the F110 turned its first competitive laps during practice at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. Senna managed 17 laps in the second free practice session; Chandhok's car suffered clutch and gearbox problems and did not run on the opening day. Both cars started from the pit lane for the race. Chandhok crashed out on lap two; Senna retired on lap 18 with engine overheating.
At the Australian Grand Prix, Chandhok took the car's first classified finish in 14th, five laps adrift of race winner Jenson Button. Driver changes were common throughout the season — Sakon Yamamoto replaced Bruno Senna for the British Grand Prix, then alternated with Chandhok. Christian Klien also appeared for several races. The F110 received no aerodynamic updates all year due to an ongoing dispute between Campos and Dallara over payment; only the mirrors were moved, following a sidepod-mirror ban. Hispania finished eleventh in the Constructors' Championship, below Virgin but clear of the single-race Lotus entries.
The team parted company with Dallara in May 2010 after the working relationship became tense over both performance dissatisfaction and payment disputes.
For 2011, HRT developed its own car, the Hispania F111, in-house. Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi were the race drivers. The re-introduction of the 107 percent qualifying rule in 2011 immediately posed problems: at the Australian Grand Prix, both drivers failed to set a time within 107 percent of pole and required stewards' permission to start.
In Turkey, the team achieved their best result of 2011 — 13th and 14th — placing both cars ahead of the Virgin entries and ahead of Caterham in the Constructors' Championship, although Karthikeyan subsequently received a post-race penalty for cutting a chicane that dropped him to 17th. Daniel Ricciardo, a Red Bull junior, replaced Karthikeyan at the British Grand Prix and drove for several subsequent rounds.
On 4 July 2011, Madrid-based investment firm Thesan Capital purchased a controlling stake from Carabante, the second ownership change in as many years. Hispania finished eleventh in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Virgin.
Colin Kolles departed at the end of 2011, replaced by Luis Perez-Sala. Former McLaren driver Pedro de la Rosa signed a two-year contract alongside Narain Karthikeyan. The team's new car, the F112, failed mandatory crash tests and arrived late. At the Australian Grand Prix, both de la Rosa and Karthikeyan were excluded from the race for failing to set a time within 107 percent in qualifying.
In November 2012, Thesan Capital announced the team was for sale. The deadline was 30 November — the date entry fees for the 2013 season were due. No buyer emerged in time, and HRT was omitted from the 2013 entry list. The team entered liquidation. Although attempts were made to revive the project under a new name, the assets were ultimately sold to Teo Martin, owner of a firm specialising in recycling automotive parts.
HRT holds the distinction of being the first Spanish-licensed Formula One constructor. The team competed in 78 races across three seasons and scored no World Championship points. Its legacy is largely cautionary — a story of chronic underfunding, late car delivery, and ownership instability that defined the existence of several teams who entered Formula One under the 2010 expansion. The Dallara-built F110 it raced in 2010 remains notable as one of the least-developed cars in modern Formula One history, unchanged aerodynamically from its first lap to its last.