161 replies to this topic

[mprtc]

Chennai: The doors of Sahara Force India Formula One team seem to be opening for Narain Karthikeyan. Ever since Vijay Mallya bought the F1 team in 2007, the businessman has been dismissive of Indian drivers even as he tested Narain and Karun Chandhok in a simulator a couple of years back.

But the 2013 season, scheduled to kick-start on March 15, could finally see an Indian behind the wheel of a tricolour-liveried machine.

The official pre-season test has already begun, but the Silverstone-based team are the only outfit who have not yet confirmed their second driver — a teammate for Scot Paul di Resta.

Sources say that Narain, who has managed to get more financial backing than last year, has already been offered a reserve driver role at Force India, but the 36-year-old is keen on landing a proper race drive.


http://www.deccanchr...oin-force-india

[bourbon]

Come on man...

[SR388]

Please no. He is a nice guy, but that seat could go to a more talented guy.

[Boxerevo]

[BigCHrome]

We have enough pay drivers on the grid already.

[Abranet]

Socking if this happens and just confirms FI's financial status.

[Iremos]

Oh, please no...

[Andrew Hope]

Weird.. most of the forum loves Paul di Resta.

..yet Force India are in financial trouble, and di Resta could be gone from F1 if they don't take a pay driver to help keep the team afloat.

..but every PdR fan will laugh at Force India for taking a pay driver, even though it would likely be the first time di Resta will have ever beaten a teammate and would shut the haters up.

I suggest we think about whether bad news is really bad news before we post. Narain isn't that bad anyway, really..

Edited by Andrew Hope, 09 February 2013 - 07:10.

[aray]

don't want to see him in F1(as driver) anymore....

[Disgrace]

That would be hilarious in all honesty, mostly because he wouldn't struggle too much either.

It would confirm that these are the easiest cars to drive in F1 history. On Pirelli tyres, you never need to drive at 100% in the race.

[sopa]

Nice guy, but this opportunity would come to him like 10 years too late.

[speednerd]

It would be amazing if NK beats PdR this season. I sure as hell would be rooting for him

[Wlleiotl]

would be fun just to see the reaction on uk tv if he ever beats pdr

[Sin]

... a little bit off topic but why can't you just write Paul di Resta instead of PdR if you write PdR I always think Pedro de la Rosa x.x

and I still want Sutil !

Edited by Sin, 09 February 2013 - 09:14.

[Baddoer]

Sounds like an amazing story. Team should know him as he drove for them in their Jordan days.

Edited by Baddoer, 09 February 2013 - 09:19.

[Andrew Hope]

Pedro de la Rosa is PdlR.

Mind you, point taken. Though not as irritating as the habit of a few here to write BUT, HAM, VET etc.

[Bloggsworth]

Why?

[handel]

It does make you wonder about the cash backing each driver. Personally if I was FI I'd have taken two good paydrivers over one poor one and one you presumably pay nothing/a small salary to. Speaking of that do we even think we pay Di Resta or do Merc sort it all out? Would FI be frozen out of '14 engines if they dropped Di Resta or would there be other repercussions?

I mean, who do we have out of work now and how much do they even have?

Kobayashi = $2 million in the end wasn't it?
Alguersuari = Does he bring any cash
Sutil = Has Medion money I've heard. How much?
GP2 guys = Not a clue how much any bring. Razia rumoured to be plenty?
Chandhok = How much did he scrape together for HRT?
Senna = Must have had some dosh and been willing to go to Force India?

[Sin]

It does make you wonder about the cash backing each driver. Personally if I was FI I'd have taken two good paydrivers over one poor one and one you presumably pay nothing/a small salary to. Speaking of that do we even think we pay Di Resta or do Merc sort it all out? Would FI be frozen out of '14 engines if they dropped Di Resta or would there be other repercussions?

I mean, who do we have out of work now and how much do they even have?

Kobayashi = $2 million in the end wasn't it?
Alguersuari = Does he bring any cash
Sutil = Has Medion money I've heard. How much?
GP2 guys = Not a clue how much any bring. Razia rumoured to be plenty?
Chandhok = How much did he scrape together for HRT?
Senna = Must have had some dosh and been willing to go to Force India?

you can forget about Senna since he is racing in another series now

[SPBHM]

to be honest, it would be something interesting watch for a few races...
but yes... there are a lot of more deserving candidates for that seat, many of them with good financial backing, it doesn't make much sense.

[DutchQuicksilver]

This is rubbish. Why would Force India risk losing two to three places in the constructors' championship? The money Karthikeyan brings would be far less than what Force India will make if they finish 6th instead of 9th in the championship.

[mattferg]

It does make you wonder about the cash backing each driver. Personally if I was FI I'd have taken two good paydrivers over one poor one and one you presumably pay nothing/a small salary to. Speaking of that do we even think we pay Di Resta or do Merc sort it all out? Would FI be frozen out of '14 engines if they dropped Di Resta or would there be other repercussions?

I mean, who do we have out of work now and how much do they even have?

Kobayashi = $2 million in the end wasn't it?
Alguersuari = Does he bring any cash
Sutil = Has Medion money I've heard. How much?
GP2 guys = Not a clue how much any bring. Razia rumoured to be plenty?
Chandhok = How much did he scrape together for HRT?
Senna = Must have had some dosh and been willing to go to Force India?

Razia's signed for Marussia, where have you been? he's alongside Chilton! Kobayashi has stopped all contract negotiations and is waiting for 2014. VJM has ruled out all current level Indian F1 drivers saying they aren't good enough - I can't believe anyone thinks KAR has a shot.

It'll be Jules Bianchi - Ferrari links promoting their switch in 2014.

Edited by mattferg, 09 February 2013 - 10:35.

[F1ultimate]

This is rubbish. Why would Force India risk losing two to three places in the constructors' championship? The money Karthikeyan brings would be far less than what Force India will make if they finish 6th instead of 9th in the championship.

True but on the other hand they need extra money NOW to develop the car to be able to compete for that position in the constructors while developing next year's car.

It's a catch 22.

[DutchQuicksilver]

True but on the other hand they need extra money NOW to develop the car to be able to compete for that position in the constructors while developing next year's car.

It's a catch 22.

But Sutil brings around 10 million, surely that's a good amount to start developing as well and they would have a driver who will score a good haul of points. And they ended the season on a high last year, so they've got a good advantage on Sauber, Williams and Toro Rosso at the moment. (Which shows in the first week of testing)

[Anderis]

But Sutil brings around 10 million,

Really?
I think he has lost his Medion backing after 2011 (Medion was bought by Lenovo, it could have some meaning). That's why he didn't end up at Williams IMO.

I think he would've already signed a contract with somebody if he has as big financial backing as around 10 million (the question is, in what currency ;), but my bet he has nowhere around it if we are talking about euro or even $)

[DutchQuicksilver]

Well his website still has Medion listed as his sponsor. As well as Capri-Sonne, Techart and Rimowa. Though the site does look a bit outdated.

Edited by DutchQuicksilver, 09 February 2013 - 11:31.

[KingB]

Karthikeyan? For god's sake...please...no.

[03011969]

...if you write PdR I always think Pedro de la Rosa x.x

Like this...

[choyothe]

He doesn't deserve to be in F1.

[seahawk]

Makes a lot of sense, if Tata Motors is interested in taking over FI.

[gm914]

Didn't Mallya already say Narain wasn't good enough for a Force India seat (along with Karun)?
What's changed? Apart from Vijay's sense of desperation.

5th in the constructors, eh?

[Frankbullitt]

Chrsit, I hope this is bollox, it would be a serious waste of a seat if he gets it, he is USELESS!!!!!!!!

[Jejking]

Shouldn't this be in 2013 Silly Season?

[dau]

Shouldn't this be in 2013 Silly Season?

Nah. It's too silly for the Silly Season thread.

[xAtarigeekx]

He was never exactly TERRIBLE when he drove for Jordan, and trying to gauge anything from a drive in an HRT is pointless.

He's hardly the greatest but not sure why some people are reacting like this is the return of Ide.

[billm99uk]

This is rubbish. Why would Force India risk losing two to three places in the constructors' championship? The money Karthikeyan brings would be far less than what Force India will make if they finish 6th instead of 9th in the championship.

I'd imagine you'd get the money before and/or during the season rather than after it though. Timing is important!

They're probably just releasing these rumors themselves to screw a bit more out of Ferrari for taking on Bianchi though

[sopa]

Interesting, how would he perform though if he was hired. I'd say he would definitely finish last of the drivers in all established teams in the championship. And sometimes Caterham and Marussia drivers can give a run for his money as well, despite those teams having average drivers themselves.

[jjcale]

Would love to see this happen .... would love to see how he goes.

[HaydenFan]

This is rubbish. Why would Force India risk losing two to three places in the constructors' championship? The money Karthikeyan brings would be far less than what Force India will make if they finish 6th instead of 9th in the championship.

But you need operations costs. Those engineers won't work if you're writing IOU's. You need to develop the car in the off-season. I'd bet that most "pay drivers" pay most, if not all of the money they bring upfront.

[olliek88]

This better be some kind of sick joke...

Edited by olliek88, 09 February 2013 - 14:45.

[ApexMouse]

He was never exactly TERRIBLE when he drove for Jordan, and trying to gauge anything from a drive in an HRT is pointless.

He's hardly the greatest but not sure why some people are reacting like this is the return of Ide.

Getting smashed by a 40 year old who's had about 1.5ish seasons in 8 odd years is pretty terrible. If I was TATA I would simply sponsor Force India. Perhaps there's an obvious reason why they don't?

Edited by ApexMouse, 09 February 2013 - 14:52.

[jrg19]

Well at least Diresta might finally beat his team mate.

[svalgis]

can't wait to see him smash di resta.

[mprtc]

I don't know those criticizing him here have really seen him in 2005 jordan or as williams test driver or early part of his career when he tested for minardi and jaguar f1 .

rating him on the basis of HRT performance is meaningless.

[THE "driverider"]

I'd welcome this.

Looked quite good in 2005.

[mprtc]

can't wait to see him smash di resta.

agreed .... narain may end paul's career then

[gm914]

LOL everyone defending him with 2005 comments.
It's 2013. He's now 36. Whatever talent he had 8 years ago is surely diminishing.

[mprtc]

LOL everyone defending him with 2005 comments.
It's 2013. He's now 36. Whatever talent he had 8 years ago is surely diminishing.

every driver will look bad in an HRT

[Longtimefan]

I have nothing against the guy at all but seriously no.

He's had far more chances than most get, he obviously isn't up to f1 speed and talent wise.

[aray]

I don't know those criticizing him here have really seen him in 2005 jordan or as williams test driver or early part of his career when he tested for minardi and jaguar f1 .

rating him on the basis of HRT performance is meaningless.

i have seen him in British F3 races footages...also first time watched him live when he broke Button's record pole-time in MacauF3 back in 2001....in the race he ran away from the rest of the field only to crash few laps later.....in his heydays he didn't got the chance to drive in F1,other than some testing..he was good at Telefonica World Series..went toe to toe with Montagny and Kovalinen in many races....but by the time he got next opportunity,he passed his peak and Monteiro matched him....nowadays even PDLR,who raced rarely in last decade,convincingly outpaced him...no excuse....

Edited by aray, 09 February 2013 - 16:18.