Is Narain's future in F-1 bleak?

[Revvmaster]

Yet another race (Montreal), yet another victor (Kimi) and yet another inspired drive (MS, RB). A great weekend for some teams (McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull), not for some others (BAR, Renault). Same old story, same old ending. And everyone goes home for the next race, contemplating what to do next.

Except one man, who throws out all his frustration in his motorhome. After being backed by some of the best sponsors that money can throw, our homegrown hero (or zero?), Narain Karthikeyan finished yet another race with a DNF against his name. And to compound matters, his mentor, Trevor Carlin isn't around anymore, the new Team Manager is not excited about a man coming from, what is now, the 2nd largest growing market after China, the Team Owner-Rob Schnaider is contemplating another sell-off, while insiders claim the team is completely mismanaged.

Under such circumstances, Narain is under tremendous pressure. Pressure not to get that first point in F-1, but just to hold on to his seat... for next season... but more importantly... this season.

The doomsayers are already writing him off. For some stupid penchant, F-1 went into overdrive here in India after Narain joined Team Jordan. 18 something petite girls who couldn't distinguish an Octavia from a 3-series all of a sudden found themselves holding a mike, a notepad, a Betacam and asking F-1 fans glued to their mega screens in pubs across metros, opinions on "the fastest indian on earth" (corny selling baseline).

TV Programmes on F-1 sprung up on News channels, so-called experts on F-1 started hogging whole pages in Newspapers, proclaiming how an Indian making it to F-1 was as good as an Indian winning a gold at the Olympics (umm.. anyone remembers when we last won an Olympic gold???) while getting a whole hog of facts wrong that would make any F-1 fan crumble in pain.

These very same people today are writing the man off. So is Narain to blame? Possibly yes. F-1 stalwarts have noted how he drives an F-1 car, which is not very different from a go-kart. His mistakes, while still being a rookie, are a bit unacceptable considering there are drivers with sponsors lined-up for a drive anytime. His lack of knowledge of several tracks is being deemed unacceptable as even Kimi faced the same problem in his first season, but ended up performing considerably well. To top it all, his team-mate has performed better, qualified better and is finishing more races than our man.

Team mismanagement, and a poor car on the other hand are robbing Narain of a chance to perform. But can they really be issues, especially when his teammate is outperforming him?

What do you think. Narain is a lemon or juicy mango that needs some time to get ripe. Post-in.

Revv

[turbo_lover]

to put it simply future is dark in terms of F-1 ..
you have said it all man - his driving is ragged , go kart driving ..throwing his car all over the place so what if the team is mis managed ? he is there to do what he's supposed to do ..which is drive flat out and score points .. the car lacks pace ? well then beat your team mate ... atleast prove that your the better driver...get noticed ..

i have serious dbouts that he'll last this season ,but on second thought he just might considering the amount of revenue sourced by his sponsors Jordan might keep him for this season ..

but he's out for sure next season ...indians will always see him as the "fastest indian" ,he did open the doors to formula 1 and that is without dbout a great achievement .PERIOD.

he will have a good time doing tyre /car battery commercials and TATA can always have his as their brand ambassador ...

[Montoya]

Well i think Narain over does it everytime.. if he keeps his cool and drives with one aim of just finishing the race then he has a future in F1 and will be picked up by another team but if he shows so much agressivness with lack of experience he is surely heading for retirement

[papps]

answer to ur quetion ' is narain's future in f-1 bleak?'
a simple YES, i think if he hadnt got so many sponsors backing him, jordan would probably get rid of him and get someone else to drive, i still wouldnt be surprised if he does not complete the season and his chances for staying in F1 next year keeps reducing race after race, unless he can turn around and start driving the way he was driving in the first few races, he has to prove himself in the next couple of races or he can say bye bye F1

[Dippy]

When Narain drove the first couple of races I was quite impressed with him. Drove the car well and always aimed to finish the race. But lately hes has really been overdoing it. He may be thinking aggresive driving might get the attention of team bosses but hes mistaken

We shouldnt forget that Narain is in F1 because of the sponsorship he got along (read the seat was paid for). Currently hes is not even being paid. Hes lucky to get into F1 but he might not stay there. Hes already 29 or 30 years old and thats not favouring him either with many younger drivers waiting to jump into the fray. He has to get his act together and drive consistently or else his days in F1 are nummbered. If this continues I really dont see him in F1 next season. He may even lose his seat this season if some other driver comes up with a bigger sponsorship.

And Trevor Carlin not being around is even worse

Dippy

[Abhay]

Narain is a very good race driver.....with what he has been given (read crap car) he is doing as much as he can....but hey no one ever said he is world champion material....IMO he is good enough to score points given the car and he is very exciting to watch too.
If you thought he was the next big thing, thats the stupid media hype at work.

He has made me proud just to see the tri-colour on the car and in F1, so even if he loses his seat it will be okay...there will be someone else....(Chandok!)

Dippy, he has been aggressive coz thats his style! some guys have that *****y push the car style which is fun to watch...if he changed his style now he would be even worse off.

[papps]

i am real happy to see an indian in F1 finally, its great to see the tri-colour out there on the track, but c'mon what has the guy done in the last few races, he had two DNF's, he cant keep the car on the track, he likes the wall and the gravel.... he has been outperformed by his team-mate and in canada even by a minardi.... whats he upto, he is blowing up the only chance he has, i know he has a crapy car and he was making the best of it, but now he is doin the complete opposite

[papps]

his team doesnt look very happy with him too

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/4082238.stm

[Rtech]

Poor guy! If he drives a steady (uneventful) race, he fails to make an impression and risks getting lost in the world of news making drivers. So he decides to take the risk and go all out in an effort to draw attention to himself. Seems like he has succeeded in that, but not the attention he wanted.

Nobody (read team bosses) will remember his 17th place finishes, but they will all remember his hitting the wall and scrappy driving, and that his teammate is outperformaning him.

Now he is speaking out against his team, and that will not be tolerated from a rookie who has yet to prove himself.

I think the wait for India's next F1 driver will be a quite a few years away, as Karun does not have the skill to perform (spare me the media hype!) and the only other driver who is showing potential on the international arena is Armaan Ebrahim. However, he is just 15 years old, and has a lot of racing to go before he gets anywhere near F1.

Lets hope NK and his sponsors get him a drive for 2006.

[Deeps]

Revvmaster, i agree with all you said about the hype in India over F1 and the lack of knowledge among the so-called experts.

It could be that the hype is creating huge pressure for NK but the pressure has existed ever since the deal was announced and he was driving significantly better in the first five or six races than he is driving now. But the part of the F1 package is dealing with pressure so that is no excuse. The circumstances within the team has not helped either. But NK is making it worse by criticising his team as Rtech said.

You guys in India don't get coverage of the practice sessions but here i do. And i've had the time to watch all the practice sessions of the last 2 races. And the way NK drives even in the practice is ragged. Agreed, the car is not easy to drive but Montacgny and Montiero drive the same car without mowing as much grass.

For our sake, I really hope NK can get his act together and just focus on consistent driving for the rest of the season.

[sridhar24]

Narain is a good driver and he has performed better than his teammate in the first five races and especially in Australian GP in wet conditions which the team is overlooking. But lately he is getting a bit too agressive in the car and is making mistakes, i feel he's under pressure from team.

[Hatari]

F1 is a rat race.. not only do u need to be really quick.. u also need to be really lucky
currently there is no shortage of drivers in F1

Mclaren : 2 test drivers who are both very eager to race
Red Bull : 1 extra driver ( DC/Klien/Luizzi)
BAR : Davidson is itching for a drive in 2006
Renault : Montagny.. impressed jordan at the friday practice

if narain doesnt sign a deal with midland for 2006..
there are no other vancant seats where he can go
i wonder if he'l consider minardi.. he might have to keep it as his last option

for now.. he has to finish races..no one doubts that he's quicker than his team-mate
but he cant afford to make any big mistakes

so in a nut shell.. his future is looking bleak

[turbo_lover]

Montagny was a better option than Narain anyday man ..that guy had a huge lead over narain in the telfonica he was killing everybody in that series ..

He was a test driver for a F1 team aswell ..any one knows which team was it ?

[karthik247]

Narain had to perform at Canada after the poor show he put before, but that didn't seem to happen. And he ain't in all that good terms with Jordan too.

[papps]

narain's teamamte monteiro has finished all 8 races this season, i think he must be the frist rookie driver to do that.... im not sure of that really... but its nice way to start his F1 career if he had got a point would have been even more impressive....and he is in the same car, he had a bad start to the season but now he is doin better than narain... narain really has to do somethin quick, atleast in the US GP he must drive steadily and finish in front of his teammate