The team originated from a collaboration between Adrián Campos of Campos Racing and Enrique Rodríguez of Meta Image — a Madrid-based sports agency — under the name Campos Meta. Campos Racing had previously operated a team in the European F3 Open Championship and the GP2 Series team subsequently known as Addax Team. The two principals began exploring the possibility of creating Spain's first Formula One team in February 2009. By March, shareholders including businessman José Ramón Carabante and basketball players Pau Gasol and Jorge Garbajosa had come on board.
The team's headquarters were initially split between Meta Image's offices in Madrid (marketing and administration) and Campos Racing's headquarters in Alzira, Valencia (technical operations). In October 2009, a deal with the regional government of Murcia was completed to build new facilities at the Parque Tecnológico Fuente Álamo science park. Italian constructor Dallara was contracted to build the 2010 cars in Parma, using Cosworth engines.
On 12 June 2009, Campos Meta was named by the FIA as one of three new teams granted entry to the 2010 season, alongside US F1 Team and Manor Grand Prix. At the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, Campos confirmed that Bruno Senna, nephew of former world champion Ayrton Senna, would be one of its drivers for 2010.
From December 2009, team finances came under repeated scrutiny. Bernie Ecclestone voiced concerns about the team's ability to be ready for the first 2010 race. A1 Grand Prix principal Tony Teixeira was among several investors linked to the team; he claimed it was "definitely" targeting the third pre-season test at Jerez, though a proposed buy-out met resistance from established teams.
On 5 February 2010, Adrián Campos told BBC Sport the team was struggling for funding and was still paying Dallara the €7 million for the chassis. On 19 February, majority shareholder Carabante took full control from Campos, who was also replaced as team principal by Colin Kolles. The team was renamed Hispania Racing F1 Team (HRT), from Carabante's Grupo Hispania, and headquarters moved to Murcia. On 4 March, Karun Chandhok was confirmed as second driver alongside Bruno Senna. The car, designed by Dallara and powered by Cosworth, was called the F110.
With no pre-season testing completed, the F110 turned its first laps during the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. Senna's car was ready in time for three installation laps in the first free practice session. In qualifying, Senna and Chandhok set the 23rd and 24th quickest times — Chandhok's time was 1.7 seconds slower than Senna's, who was over eight seconds behind polesitter Sebastian Vettel. Both cars started from the pit lane; Chandhok crashed out on lap 2 and Senna retired on lap 18 with an overheating engine.
At the Australian Grand Prix, the F110s were 6.6 seconds off pole and only 0.34 seconds behind the Virgin of Lucas di Grassi. Chandhok finished 14th and last — five laps adrift of winner Jenson Button and three behind Heikki Kovalainen's 13th-placed Lotus — for the team's first classified finish, partly owing to a damaged floor sustained from running off-track twice. The team recorded its first double finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix, with Chandhok ahead of Senna though three and four laps down respectively.
At Monaco, Hispania leapfrogged Lotus and Virgin at the start. Chandhok looked set to finish until Jarno Trulli, attempting to overtake, struck the side of the Hispania car and was sent over the top into the barrier. Both drivers were unhurt. The crash narrowly failed to affect Mark Webber's race win.
Ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Senna was dropped in favour of test driver Sakon Yamamoto. Yamamoto subsequently replaced Chandhok for four races before Christian Klien took over for Singapore due to Yamamoto's food poisoning. Yamamoto returned for two further races, and Klien took the final two of the season. In 2020, Chandhok disclosed that the dispute between Campos and Dallara over chassis payment had resulted in the launch car being raced all season without any upgrades; the only alteration throughout the year was moving the side-mirrors inboard ahead of a sidepod-mirror ban in China.
Hispania parted with Dallara in May 2010 after the relationship had become tense due to the car's lack of performance. Efforts to secure an alternative technical arrangement included reported talks with Toyota Motorsport GmbH, which would have seen the team use Toyota's unraced 2010 car (the Toyota TF110) and its technical resources as a basis for the 2011 challenger. Toyota announced the agreement's cancellation in November 2010, citing missed payments. Former Telefónica CEO Juan Villalonga joined the team in November 2010 to assist with communications, technology, and sponsorship.
On 6 January 2011, Narain Karthikeyan was announced as a driver for the season. Vitantonio Liuzzi was confirmed as second driver on 9 March after testing. The team's 2011 car, the Hispania F111, made its debut during the second practice session of the Australian Grand Prix. The re-introduced 107% rule saw both drivers fail to qualify in Australia. In Malaysia, pace improved; both cars were within 107% and started, though both retired with technical problems.
For the British Grand Prix, Karthikeyan was replaced by Red Bull protégé Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified 24th. In Canada, the team achieved their best result of the season with both drivers finishing 13th and 14th, placing them ahead of Virgin in the Constructors' Championship. A post-race penalty for Karthikeyan — for cutting a chicane — dropped him to 17th. At the Italian Grand Prix, Liuzzi lost control at the start, cut the first corner after contact with Kovalainen, and slid sideways into Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg, eliminating all three.
On 4 July 2011, Thesan Capital — a Madrid-based investment company — purchased a controlling stake from Carabante, announcing no change to team name or operational structure and describing intentions to make the team "more Spanish."
Hispania finished 11th in the World Constructors' Championship, ahead of Virgin.
On 21 November 2011, Pedro de la Rosa signed a two-year contract with the team. Colin Kolles departed as team principal effective 15 December 2011 and was replaced by Luis Pérez-Sala. In February 2012 the team announced relocation to the Caja Mágica complex in Madrid, occupying 11,000 square metres. The 2012 car, the F112, was delayed in pre-season testing after failing mandatory crash tests. At the Australian Grand Prix, de la Rosa and Karthikeyan were not permitted to race, both having failed to set a lap time within 107% of the fastest time in Q1.
On 12 November 2012, Thesan Capital confirmed it was in talks with several parties regarding a sale. The team needed a buyer by 30 November — the date entry fees for 2013 were due — or face exclusion. No buyer was found and the team was omitted from the 2013 entry list, later reported to be in liquidation. Their assets were ultimately sold to Teo Martín, owner of a firm specialising in recycling automotive parts, with the stated intention of racing the cars in the EuroBOSS Series. Czech driver Josef Král later stated he had signed a contract to race for the Spanish team had it made the 2013 grid.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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