Karthikeyan turned down HRT in 2010
Narain Karthikeyan opted for a year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2010 © Getty Images
Narain Karthikeyan has revealed he could have made his return to Formula One with HRT a year ago, but did not want to take the risk with an "unproven" team.
On Thursday the 33-year-old was confirmed as an HRT driver by team principal Colin Kolles, who gave the Indian his first break in F1 in 2005. But Karthikeyan, who has heavy financial backing from Indian car company Tata, revealed to the Indian press agency PTI that he turned down a similar offer in 2010.
"I've been in discussion with HRT for a long time," he said. "Originally we had discussed the possibility of me driving for them in 2010, but I felt that it was not the opportunity I was looking for at that time, as the team was new in F1, and still an unproven one."
Karthikeyan spent 2010 in the Superleague and NASCAR Truck categories instead, but said he has more confidence in HRT now that it has a year's experience in F1 and has secured a deal to use Williams gearboxes next season.
"For the 2011 season HRT have expanded their own resources, and have established some strong technical partnerships," he said.
PTI reported that the team will field an "upgraded version" of its 2010 Dallara chassis next season.
Credit: ESPN F1 (espn.com)
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