India's first F1 driver says Hamilton is favourite to dominate the ongoing season
As the Formula One season gathers speed and India stares at uncertainty as far as the Indian GP is concerned, Narain Karthikeyan is eager to get back to racing tracks of Japan.
The first F1 driver from India, Karthikeyan has been stepping on the gas in the Super Formula Series in Japan. "I can't wait to get back to the racing track in Japan (his next race is at the Okayama International Circuit on May 24). It's one round up and seven more more to go," Said Karthikeyan.
Thirty Eight-year-old Karthikeyan hit the ground running right from the very first race securing a podium finish (third) at Suzuka in April. "It's a very tough format as compared to other form of car motorsport. In the sense, there is very little practice time. It's so restricted that we only get an hour's practice on Saturday and then there's qualifying. When a guy goes to Japan even though he may be a seasoned driver, it takes a lot of time to get used to the track and the climate," said the Docomo Team Dandelion Racing driver who plans to race in Japan for the next season as well.
The motorsports icon was in the city for his stint as consultant for the Tata Group and on Friday, even went go-karting, clocking the lap at Smaaash's circuit in just 26 seconds. "Japan takes you by surprise. The track time that we get is very limited and that's the biggest challenge as compared to the European circuit. There is absolutely no room for error. Very few chances of overlapping. You make a mistake here and you pay for it."
Karthikeyan's campaign in 2014 was marred by the after-effects of a 250km/h crash in qualifying at Autopolis, from which he was not able to fully recover until the winter.
"More than feeling the pressure for the first race of the season, my main worry was the back injury. Had there been a recurrence my entire season would have taken a backseat. The accident in September was totally my fault, the impact was around 25G. In two weeks time there was another race so it kept on getting worse. "From December, it was only physiotherapy. Got back my strength and now I'm looking to make up for last season's dissapoinment," said Karthikeyan.
Having been in the sport for close to a decade, Karthikeyan now wants to share his experience with upcoming Indian racers so that they make it all the way to Formula One. "I did start an academy called Speed NK Racing academy in Coimbatore in 2006. But then I got busy in my own thing. But the good thing is that four of our kids went onto the international stage, the most prominent one being Aditya Patel (participates in the Audi R8 LMS Cup in South Korea) and Akhil Kushlani (JK Racing Asia Series). We have around 19 Indians on the international circuit, we now have an Indian team, we had our very own GP that I hope makes a return to the circuit soon.
"But let's not forget that Formula One is still a very expensive sport. I was lucky to have the financial backing. The biggest challenge young drivers face is the sponsorship. Ability is one thing, but to make sure the ability reaches its true potential, one needs the money as well," says Karthikeyan who made his Formula One debut in 2005 with team Jordan.
He was was last seen on the F1 circuit in 2012 where he raced for HRT but Karthikeyan, the avid Lewis Hamilton fan does keep an eye on current proceedings. "It's going to be a two-horse race between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. My money's on Lewis. He's a great driver. I think he's well on course to do what he did last year. Ferrari does seem a little behind. Vettel does have his work cut out."
As far as the constant rich-versus-poor battle that exists, Karthikeyan said, "Look, it's always been like that. You can take my example, the team I drove for HRT went bankrupt in 2012. Marussia did come back but you have to admit that Formula One will always be a sport that's driven on capital. The amount of money that's spent on research and development, you just cannot ask for a level playing field. If they want a level playing field they should probably race in another format," says Karthikeyan coming straight to the point.
"If you don't have the budget, just stay out of it."
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