Karthikeyan may race before Indian GP
Hispania Racing look set to give Indian Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan a race seat even before October's Indian Grand Prix.
By Mridubha Kumar
As fans gear up for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, they might not have to wait too long to see Indian drivers back in F1 cockpits.
When Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok attended the launch of the race tickets sale on Saturday, they were flooded by questions regarding whether or not they will race in front of their home fans. But Karthikeyan told ESPNSTAR.com in an exclusive chat that he will possibly be on the grid before the Indian GP.
In his return to F1 after five years this year, the 34-year-old Karthikeyan drove for HRT in the first eight races on the calendar. Karthikeyan’s best results this season have been two 17th-place finishes in Monaco and Canada. He last raced at the European Grand Prix on June 26. His race seat has since been given to Red Bull junior driver, Daniel Ricciardo.
While saying he will drive at the Indian Grand Prix, Karthikeyan made a pleasant revelation when asked if there's a possibility of him racing in any of the five Grands Prix before India.
“Yes, that is the plan, definitely. I’m going to do the Friday sessions anyway, just to keep driving. And possibly one race before India. It could be either in Singapore, Japan or Korea, just to get warmed up for the Indian Grand Prix.”
The HRT driver also said that other teams and drivers were really looking forward to India. “Everyone is positive about India. They are looking forward to it because India is a global figure and everyone wants to visit India and have a good time and a good race.”
Karthikeyan also hailed the Buddh International Circuit at Greater Noida as a challenging one for the drivers with its high-speed straights and dramatic changes in elevation. “There are lot of blind corners, a lot of elevated corners. But I’ve just done a lap so it’s hard to pick a favourite. The designers have taken some challenging corners and parts of many tracks and built them up here. So it has become one hell of a track.”
Recently, Bharti Airtel dropped cricket for F1 sponsorship, opting to go with India's maiden race instead of the Champions League T20 that ends just about three weeks before the Indian Grand Prix.
When asked if he thinks people will recover from the cricket hangover in time for the race, Karthikeyan said: “There has been an overload of cricket in India. F1 has had a presence here since 1993.
"People relate to Michael Schumacher but now they need new names. With the race, F1 is going to grow bigger and bigger every year in India.”
Credit: ESPN STAR (www.espnstar.com)
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