HRT's new team boss Luis Perez-Sala says the back-of-the-field squad will prove their doubters wrong over the coming years, and is adamant that re-establishing the team as a truly Spanish operation is the best way forward.
Although HRT have always tried to present a Spanish image, in their early years their car had roots in a design from Italian firm Dallara and the team relied on boss Colin Kolles’s facilities in Munich.
With Kolles now gone, ex-racer Sala has taken charge and work is underway to move the team to a base in Valencia. Sala said the response in Spain to the team's new era had been positive, and he was sure they could win over the rest of the world as well.
"We're a small team and sometimes it is hard to realise what that entails," he said.
"Still, especially on a national level, I think people perceive positively the change in direction that the team has been taking these last few months. Little by little people are starting to trust us.
"Internationally there are still perhaps some doubts with respect to what will happen, but those doubts can only be cleared with time. With every grand prix people will see our continuity and the serious work we are carrying out."
But he admitted that with a major restructuring and change of base to carry out over the coming months, HRT were actually likely to take a step backwards in performance initially.
"The task ahead of us, with the design of the car and change of headquarters, is huge," Sala conceded.
"Formula 1 is very complicated and implies a lot of preparation work as it so, in this respect, HRT is a little bit behind other teams. We will feel the effects of this transformation the team is going through and will have pay for it at the start of the season.
"We're not going to be at the same level as when we finished this past season, where the same team had been running for two years, but we're aware of that.
"We're taking a step back so that we can take two forward. 2012 will be an important year for us to settle and face a more natural and stable situation in 2013."