HRT is under new management. There is a new sign above the door and new faces behind the counter, but it hasn't yet managed to fully air the place out. It suffers with the prejudices of the previous owners but is working hard to change those preconceived notions.

HRT has always had a chip on its shoulder. The object of ridicule since the day it was founded, how it has limped its way in to its third year nobody can quite work out. In its first two seasons the team failed to come anywhere close to justifying its place in Formula One while off track it's had more commercial makeovers than new racing cars.

It has a new logo (its third in as many years) for 2012, a change which reflects the outlook held by the outfit's new owners. It's fresh and modern, chic and glamorous; all the qualities Formula One likes to appear to have.

Luis Perez-Sala must therefore represent its new ambition. A former Minardi driver, Perez-Sala was installed as the team's boss in place of Colin Kolles by new owners Thesan Capital, a Spanish investment company.

Thesan bought the company in July last year for an undisclosed figure. Typically investment companies take undervalued companies, transform them as cheaply as possible before selling them on for a hefty profit.

Buying HRT is a strange move. A back of the grid Formula One team with seemingly little potential without major investment doesn't seem the simplest way of generating a return for shareholders. It's also foolish in the extreme to think any Formula One team can produce a positive return, least of all HRT, but it has given the team a more solid foundation than it has previously enjoyed.

"They want to grow something viable," explains Perez-Sala of Thesan's strategy. "They want to grow something with a balance between income and expense... They know that it is not going to be easy.

"It is a risk," he continues, "but they knew it's a risk. They can lose but this is something they have in their mind."

"HRT is safe, at least for this season," adds Maria Serrat. The team's Communications and PR Director, Serrat helps Perez-Sala explain as his broken English is often found wanting for clarity outside of his native Spanish.

"We have in mind at least 3 years," she continues. "But first of all (the focus is on) trying to stabilise the team and create a stable foundation in order to be able to grow in the future. That's the work we are doing now; stabilising the income and expenses."

A cynic would suggest it has comparatively little of either. In 2010 the team is believed to have received just $3.1m (£1.95m) of sponsorship funds, with much of that coming courtesy of Bruno Senna's links with Embratel. Indeed much of HRT's original investment came courtesy of its drivers, with the Carabante family chipping in an estimated $16m (£10.1m) of its $46m (£28.9m) resources.

Still development on the car during the team's first two seasons was practically non-existent. While it initially claimed the 2011 car was new the team had to eventually concede it was in fact the 2010 design in drag. Geoff Willis was given the task of developing things early on but was given no money with which to do so. Maintenance standards were rather more relaxed than at other teams, and unsurprisingly the team went nowhere.

Perez-Sala is quick to distance both himself and Thesan from the Carabante era. A back-office shake-up has resulted in an almost entirely new management team and a more straightforward approach to Grand Prix racing.

"We have to prove, with these changes, that we are going to improve and we are going to be different," stresses Perez-Sala.

"It's something difficult to see form the outside," adds Serrat. "It's a new beginning; we are not starting not even from zero... We inherited a lot."

After installing new management the biggest challenge has been consolidating a host of small offices under one roof. "This team was complex; some people working from Spain, some from Germany, France, England, Italy," Perez-Sala reveals.

It was decided that, in an attempt to separate the team from the rest of the Formula One grid and create its own unique identity, it would set up camp in Madrid. "England's the best place but you're not going to survive because you have all the teams there and you are going to be the last one," Perez-Sala suggests. "There's nothing different that's why they went to Spain, to try something different."

Madrid is most certainly different, far removed from the Silverstone Triangle all teams bar Toro Rosso, Sauber and Ferrari inhabit. It's a move Toyota tried when it based itself in Cologne.