The team originated in February 2009 as a collaboration between Adrián Campos of Campos Racing and Enrique Rodríguez of Meta Image, a Madrid-based sports agency, under the name Campos Meta. By March, Spanish businessman José Ramón Carabante and basketball players Pau Gasol and Jorge Garbajosa had become shareholders. The team's administration operated from Meta Image's Madrid offices while the technical centre was based at Campos Racing's headquarters in Alzira, Valencia. In October 2009 a deal was completed with the government of the Region of Murcia to build new facilities at the Parque Tecnológico Fuente Álamo science park. Italian constructor Dallara was contracted to build the 2010 cars in Parma, to be powered by Cosworth engines. On 12 June 2009, the FIA named Campos Meta one of three new teams granted entry to the 2010 season, alongside US F1 Team and Manor Grand Prix. Ahead of the debut season, Bruno Senna — nephew of former world champion Ayrton Senna — was confirmed as one of the team's drivers.
Financial difficulties surfaced before the team had turned a wheel in competition. On 19 February 2010, majority shareholder José Ramón Carabante assumed full control, replacing Adrián Campos as both owner and team principal; Colin Kolles was appointed in Campos's place. The team was renamed Hispania Racing F1 Team, abbreviated to HRT, taking the name from Carabante's Grupo Hispania. Headquarters shifted to Grupo Hispania's offices in Murcia. Karun Chandhok was confirmed as the second driver on 4 March, and on the same day the team launched its Cosworth-powered, Dallara-designed car — designated F110. Chandhok later revealed that an unresolved payment dispute between Campos and Dallara over the chassis meant the F110 was raced the entire 2010 season without any development, with the only alteration being the repositioning of the side mirrors ahead of a sidepod-mirror ban at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The F110 completed its first laps during the weekend of the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix with no pre-season testing completed. Both cars started the race from the pit lane; Chandhok retired on lap two and Senna on lap 18 with an overheating engine. At the Australian Grand Prix, Chandhok achieved the team's first classified finish, crossing the line fourteenth and last, five laps behind winner Jenson Button. The driver lineup was fluid throughout the season, with Sakon Yamamoto and Christian Klien both making appearances in place of the regular drivers.
Hispania severed its relationship with Dallara in May 2010. A deal to use Toyota's never-raced 2010 car, the TF110, as the basis for the 2011 challenger came to nothing when Toyota cancelled the arrangement in November 2010, citing unpaid fees. Juan Villalonga, former chief executive of Telefónica, joined in November 2010 to assist with communications and sponsorship. Narain Karthikeyan was confirmed as a driver in January 2011, and Vitantonio Liuzzi was confirmed as the second driver in March.
The team's best result of the 2011 season came in Canada, where both Liuzzi and Karthikeyan finished classified — thirteenth and fourteenth — placing them ahead of Virgin in the Constructors' Championship, though Karthikeyan received a post-race penalty for cutting a chicane. Red Bull junior Daniel Ricciardo drove for the team from the British Grand Prix onwards, in place of Karthikeyan. For the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, Karthikeyan returned and finished seventeenth, ahead of Ricciardo. Hispania finished eleventh in the 2011 World Constructors' Championship, ahead of Virgin. In July 2011, Thesan Capital, a Madrid-based investment company, purchased a controlling stake from Carabante.
Pedro de la Rosa signed a two-year contract in November 2011. Team principal Colin Kolles departed in December 2011 and was replaced by Luis Pérez-Sala as the team relocated its operations to the Caja Mágica complex in Madrid. The team's 2012 car, the F112, missed pre-season testing after failing mandatory crash tests; at the Australian Grand Prix both de la Rosa and Karthikeyan were barred from racing after failing to set times within 107% of the fastest qualifying lap.
In November 2012, Thesan Capital confirmed the team was for sale. The deadline was 30 November — the date by which 2013 entry fees were due. No buyer was found in time and HRT was omitted from the 2013 entry list. The team entered liquidation, and despite subsequent revival bids its assets were ultimately sold to Teo Martín, a businessman specialising in recycling automotive parts, who planned to race the cars in the EuroBOSS Series. Czech driver Josef Král later stated he had signed a contract to race for the team had it made the 2013 grid.
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