Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn has confirmed a deal with the Hispania team for them to rent the use of one of their wind tunnels for development purposes.
HRT had refused to comment on the speculation, but Brawn confirmed the news on Friday in the Malaysian GP paddock.
“We have two wind tunnels,” he explained. “Because of the FOTA constraint regulations we only use one of them for our own Formula One programme so the other one is let out to customers.”
Before admitting that HRT “is renting some time in the tunnel.”
The Spanish outfit failed to develop their 2010 car, the F110, which stayed the same from Bahrain to Abu Dhabi. However, the team are a little better prepared for the 2011 season and, with the 107% rule, it is vital they develop their F111 if they are to compete in the race – unlike a fortnight ago in Australia.