Saturday, February 4, 2012

An Indian Driver in F1 in 2012

Good news for the motorsports fans in India. Narain Karthikeyan will be driving for HRT team in 2012 in Formula 1. In the inaugural F1 Grand Prix in Delhi in 2011, Narain Karthikeyan had made an impression.

Despite not driving for more than four months, Narain came back to the HRT team and was immediately on pace and beat his highly rated team mate and redbull protegee Daniel Ricciardo in the race and finished 17th in the process. This has swung the HRT decision  in Narain's favour.

In a Media release, HRT Team Principal Luis Perex-Sala said "I am pleased to count on Narain for this season, as he will contribute continuity and stability. He is quick, intuitive and secure driver who met his expectations despite lack of continuity last year. Of the eight Grand Prix he contested in 2011, he only failed on one occasion and had a great performance in the last race he took part in." 

Narain said "there are drivers with more resources and it would be wrong to say that I secured the drive just because of sponsorship". Narain is scheduled to get a first feel of the car during the second test in Feb 21. Pedro will be driving the car during the first tests. 

HRT with new funds and a completely revamped team personnel will hope to do well this year. Millions of Indians will be keenly following the progress of this team and Narain.


With this, the Forumla 1 Grid is complete. Here are the drivers:

Redbull: Sebastien Vettel, Mark Webber
Mclaren Mercedes: Jenson Button, Hamilton
Ferrari: Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa
Mercedes: Michel Schumacher, Nico Rosberg
Lotus: Kimi Raikonnen, Roman Grosjean
Sahara Force India: Paul DiResta, Nico Hulkenberg
Williams: Bruno Senna, Pastor Maldonado
Sauber: Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi
Torro Rosso: Daniel Ricciardo, J. Vergne
Caterham: Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen
HRT: Narain Karthikeyan, Pedro de la Rosa
Marrussia Racing: Timo Glock, Charles Pic