Narain Shines in the wet in Korean Grand Prix 2011

Narain Karthikeyan drove in the first practice FP1 in the Korean Grind Prix. He had replaced Vintanio Liuzzi. It rained heavily on friday in both the sessions with standing water on the track. Narain - who has proved his skills in the wet in the past securing a 2nd position in the wet FP2 in Japan in 2005 Formula 1 Grand Prix - was faster than the other HRT driver Daniel Ricciardo. In Formula 1 due to the difference in the cars, each drivers performance is measured against his team mate. So Narain did well.

However, Narain was not satisfied being faster than his team mate and said "I had never driven in Korea before and having to do so in such foul weather conditions was not ideal. This won't help me much with my preparation for the Indian Grand Prix, because it will surely be dry out there, but, nevertheless, it has been positive to be able to gather some data on wet conditions and I hope that helped the team out a little. Overall, I am satisfied with the job done today."

This shows that Narain is focused on doing a good job in the Indian Grand Prix. Even in adversity, when he has been dropped from the team to get the funds from Redbull, he seems to be having composure and preparing for his dream of driving infront of the home audience. Certainly, this is one quality that one should learn from him.

Effect of Track Time

You need Practice, Practice and Practice!

In a cricket crazy country like India, Sachin Tendulkar is like God. So it was big news when Sachin Tendulkar met Michael Schumacher. It was reported that Sachin was raving about the amazing neck muscles of Schumacher.

In Formula 1, you encounter 3G and even 4G forces while cornering the car at high speeds. So your neck muscles need to be really strong. For the normal public who are unaware about the G forces, after a journey most of them complain about neck pain. The neck pain arises when you drive down from several hours turning the car at higher speeds. For normal mortals, speeds of 100-120 kmph is high for our neck, as most of us hardly exercise.

In formula 1, drivers need to follow specific fitness regimen as well as specific exercises for neck muscles. Still when you face the real G forces while cornering the car, no amount of exercise is enough. So a driver who has been driving in Formula one for sometime and a driver who is making a come back or making his debut, the impact is different. So Narain Karthikeyan recently said that your speed doesn't go way just like that. "It is just the physical aspects of driving an F1 car: you can't just jump into and get quick. You can be on it for a lap, but to be on it for 20 laps is a different matter". Same comment has been made by three time F1 champion Nicki Lauda and Former F1 driver and steward Johny Herbert.

It would be good if Indian corporates understand this and support Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok to get quality time in the cars.

Formula 1 Politics - Money Talks Louder

Driver selection for Formula 1 teams is not just based on talent, but on many other considerations. A case in the point is the Renault team.


Robert Kubica suffered a terrible accident at the beginning of the year and Renault had to find a suitable replacement. In came Nick Heidfield and he set a very fast timing during practice and was selected as a replacement. However, things started turning sour. Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov (who has backing of sponsors from his native Russia) were nearly matched in terms of points which Heidfeld ahead. It is of course a different matter that Heidfeld was unlucky of being involved in a couple of crashes. Eric Boullier of Renualt started making some negative comments about Heidfeld and then after about two races, Renault suddenly removed Heidfeld and Bruno Senna was given the drive. Nick Heidfeld hadn't brought any sponsorship with him. Bruno Senna is the nephew of the legendary Ayrton Senna and the Senna name evokes lot of interest among public and hence sponsors. Renault team which has financial worries wanted sponsorships and instead of coming clean on its intention, started a campaign to malign Heidfeld saying that he lacks leadership qualities so that the replacement by Bruno Senna won't look an act of desperation driven by financial worries.


Of late, Eric Boullier has started making noises about the need to freeze on their driver lineup by October and has kind of given a deadline to Kubica. Robert Kubica's doctor and manager had said that he can come back to some form of racing by November. However, Eric Boullier has given a deadline of October end. Clearly, they don't want Robert Kubica to come back with them as Robert is not likely to bring any sponsorship with him. That would free up one seat for a sponsored driver like Bruno Senna. Ultimately, Money talks louder.


Pastor Maldonado brought lot of sponsorships to the Williams team. So Williams team replaced Nico Hulkenberg. Nico Hulkenberg had in turn brought sponsorships to the Williams team and had even bagged a pole position in 2010. However, Maldonado's sponsors ensured that Hulkenberg was dumped. Williams had felt that they needed an experienced driver like Rubens Barrichello to help in development of their car. Unfortunately, despite Rubens being a jovial guy with lot of experience in F1, he couldn't help in making the Williams car faster. It looks like time is running up for Rubens and there has been news of Kimi Raikkonen expressing interest for a drive with Williams team. Kimi's "private" visit to the Williams factory made Rubens jittery and Rubens even said that he is willing to spend some money from his own pocket to remain in F1. Clearly, Rubens is trying his best to stay in F1 at any cost.


Coming back to Kimi Raikonnen who became F1 champion after moving over to Ferrari, it came as a shock to people that Ferrari chose to drop him one year before his contract and get Alonso for Renault. When the Spanish bank Santander - who has traditionally sponsored the team where Alonso is a driver - moved in as sponsors of Ferrari. Clearly one could see the connection. Even a company with huge history in Formula 1 fell for the lure of the Lucre and dropped a Formula 1 Champion like Kimi. Again Money Talks Louder.


And  if teams like Ferrari, Willams, Renault etc select drivers based on sponsors, can HRT be blamed for replacing Narain Karthikeyan with Daniel Ricciardo due to sponsorships from Redbull?

No Indian Drivers for Sahara Force India

Sahara group has bought 42.5% stake in the Vijay Mallya controlled Force India Formula 1 team. However, as I had thought http://arjunaubacha.blogspot.com/2011/10/sahara-force-india.html, Vijay Mallya has again reiterated that he will not take Narain and Karun in the team.

He has continued to harm Narain and Karun by his statements. Dr. Mallya said that the current Indian drivers don't suit him. Now his partner, Subrata Roy of Sahara group, who has been designated the Chairman of Sahara Force India team, has said "We would love to have an Indian driver, but we have to wait for some more time. We should produce world class drivers so that they can even go to other teams".

Unfortunately, Subrata Roy and Vijay Mallya claim to know more than triple world champion Nicki Lauda who has said that Narain and Karun are talented drivers and need more track time. http://arjunaubacha.blogspot.com/2011/10/narain-needs-more-track-time.html

Similarly Johny Herbert while speaking to Hindustan Time had also said "Just look at Karun and Narain. They don't get any tracktime and then they are expected to get in the car and be fast. It doesn't work like that". So the Sahara Force India owners feel that they know more than Nicki Lauda and Johny Herbert. What a tragedy!
 
Narain Karthikeyan was the first Indian driver to drive in Formula 1 when he made his debut in 2005. He has proved himself by being the first off the blocks in the inaugural race that year in Melbourne. He also had the seventh fastest laptime in Imola in 2005 driving a lowly Jordan. Unfortunately, the current Sahara Force India owners seem to be behaving like crabs who pull down fellow crabs. Remember the Indian Crab story?

Sahara Force India

The Sahara group headed by Subroto Roy, which was earlier into airlines and which has diverse interests including the controversial para banking schemes has bought into Force India.

Sahara Group is reported to have paid 100 million USD for 42.5% stake in Force India. Following this purchase, the Force India team will be rebranded as Sahara Force India. Change of name of a Formula 1 team requires the concurrence of all the teams.

The ownership structure in the team will now be Sahar Group 42.5%, UB Group owned by Vijay Mallya 42.5% and the Mol family the balance 15%. Vijay Mallya will continue to remain the team principal.

It is to be seen if the change in ownership will result in any change in philosophy with respect to hiring of Indian drivers. Till date, Vijay Mallya had steadfastly refused to even give a test drive to Narain Karthikeyan or Karun Chandhok and has taken every opportunity to belittle them.

In the world of F1, where Money and Ego play a major role, it is to be seen if the infusion of new funds results in Narain getting a deserved look in as a driver.

Narain Needs More Track Time

In my previous post titled "Its Not Just Talent" http://arjunaubacha.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-not-just-talent.html I had said that only talent can't make you successful. You need a backer.

Nicki Lauda, who is a three time F1 champion has chimed in to say similar things. He said Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok are talented drivers. However, they need more track time.

It should be noted that Michael Schumacher despite his phenomenal talent used to do lot of testingtill he was satisfied. When you spend more time in the car, you refine your craft. As they say, genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. In Formula 1 where the speeds are so high, one needs to keep on changing gears, working on the DRS, adjusting balance etc etc all the while looking at the tiny mirrors in your car to know if any competitor is closing behind. The decision making is so fast that it becomes a part of your reflex action. So, one needs enough track time.

I hope Narain gets into a good car next season so that he can polish his craft and make the more than a billion Indians happy.

Its not just Talent

Narain Karthikeyan recently said that Ricciardo is talented and has a bright future, especially with the backing of Red Bull. From his statement it is very clear that Narain doesn't harbour any bitterness towards the man who replaced him in HRT. That shows that Narain is a pragmatic individual who doesn't have much of an ego and takes things in his strides. From his statement one wonders how important is the requirement of backing or support for a F1 driver?

Any one who follows Formula 1 will be able to understand that it is not just talent alone which will bring you success. One needs to hone his talent by hours and hours of practice, exercise, diet etc. Each one of the drivers work hard. So when one driver gets to drive a superior car, he excels. Formula 1 is unlike a running race, where the better man wins. Here, the car matters a lot and also the proficiency of the team in terms of devising the strategy and tactics. 

If you look at the back of the Grid in Forumla 1, you will see that Heikki Kovalainen who was once driving for McLaren and has also won a race, is languising in a slower Team Lotus car. Similarly, Timo Glock who was highly rated at Toyota is driving a lowly Virgin racing car. 

Interestingly, Timo Glock missed driving in the Japanese Grind Prix in 2009. So Kobayashi who was a test driver in Toyota got a chance to race. He impressed people by his aggressive driving style. Immediately, he was swapped up by Peter Sauber for his Sauber racing. Peter Sauber is known for spotting good talents and Kobayashi has now firmly established himself in Formula 1. The Japanese teams are known to support drivers of their nationality. For example, Toyota had pushed for Nakakima to be included in the Williams team first as test driver and then as a driver, as Toyota used to supply engines to Williams. Similarly, Toyota gave a chance to Kobayashi as a test driver and he got the lucky break when Timo Glock was ruled out for the race. If Kobayashi didn't get the backing of Toyota, then he would not have been able to race. A talented person needs an avenue to showcase his talent. It is important to get the backing of a good team to be able to shine. 

Unfortunately for Narain, he never got the backing of important team or group. He first test drove for Jordan and did well. Later he got a call from Minardi, but he couldn't get sufficient sponsors and the seat went to someone else. Later on in 2005 he got to drive for the Jordan team. He has won in all the series that he has participated in, except for F1 where he has only driver back of the grid cars. With undeniable talent, he is struggling at the back of the grid. So it shows that backing or support of an influential person and/or team is very important for an F1 driver.