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Upgrades will provide bigger boost in Turkey - Liuzzi

HRT registered its first two finishes at the Chinese Grand Prix © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Tonio Liuzzi

• Teams:
• HRT

Tonio Liuzzi insists there is plenty more to come from HRT this season after some of the new parts intended for last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix did not make it onto the car.

HRT took a double finish at Shanghai, with Liuzzi finishing 17.781 seconds behind the Virgin of Timo Glock despite a drive-through penalty for jumping the start. Without the penalty he believes he could have been fighting Glock for position at the finish, but said the main reason for optimism is the potential gain the latest upgrades can bring at the next round in Turkey.

"We probably could have been even closer to Virgin but we couldn't use some of the updates we brought to the race because of material problems," Liuzzi told ESPNF1 in his latest column. "We used a new engine cover exit and some improvements on the brakes and other bits and pieces, but they mainly improved reliability and we couldn't use the bits that would have given us the biggest advantage. We had some new rear wing endplates which were a big part of the package, so it's a shame we didn't get them on the car."

Liuzzi is confident in HRT's ability to provide him with the optimum package for the start of the European season.

"The pieces we did use amounted to a little improvement, but in Turkey we are expecting quite a significant step forward," he said. "Having a guy like Geoff Willis leading the development process gives me a lot of confidence as he has a proven track record with top teams like Red Bull, BAR and Williams. I really like the way he works, he's very methodical and always talks realistically about the development - he's not a dreamer. He's got a good group of engineers around him, so that makes me confident we can achieve our short-term targets over the next few races.

"Hopefully when all the updates are on the car it will take our performance in the right direction. The Turkey upgrades will focus on several aspects of the car, but rear-end grip is our weakest point and that's what we have to concentrate on the most going forward."

He added: "From the plans we have, I think our development should progress on a really steep curve, but our competitiveness all depends on the other teams and how quickly they develop their cars."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.