[nitrous]

If it was all money, there would be a bunch of middle easterners on the grid.
But, I don't see one.
I wonder why.

[pranavt]

An F1 superlicense. They don't hand those out freely.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by pranavt

Hahaha, there's the 107% rule coming in this year. How many bucks gets you a race seat at HRT? It's obvious he's got in because of Tata's money.

It is quite a known fact that popular sport and sponsorships are intertwined. Hence it is no wonder. But an Indian conglomerate sponsoring an Indian ought to be taken in good spirit.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by pranavt

People like Raikkonen (Sauber), Webber (Minardi), Alonso (Minardi), Schumacher (Jordan), Vettel (Torro Rosso), Senna (Toleman, compare his results with the rest of the results of the team) and almost everyone else made their mark in a small low-budget team with a dog of a car. Few apart from Hamilton, Montoya, Villeneuve and a couple more have directly landed in a race-winning car. If the F1 teams, who do actually know more than the Indian press, thought that he deserved a seat, he would've had one.

No one said that Karthikeyan is a great driver and I wouldn't give the Indian press to much credit either. I am completely with you on this, that had he been very talented, he could have done better with a poor car.

Originally Posted by pranavt

No need to get agitated over the need for proof from another source. The international press hadn't picked up this piece of news, which is why I was curious. And yes, I am satisfied; thank you for the concern.

Apologies if that got your goat, but glad to know that you are satisfied.

Originally Posted by pranavt

Tata could've sponsored Chandhok, who actually didn't get a proper chance to show his skills, unlike Karthikeyan who managed to crash and destroy his car on a straight in his final GP for Jordan. And a driver who has actually been driving Formula 1 cars recently, unlike Karthikeyan who has been racing trucks.

Yes, Karun Chandhok could have been sponsored instead. But since he wasn't, this becomes hypothetical. Also, I think Narain deserves another chance and while he did crash on the last race, Williams thought that he was good enough to be their test driver for a couple of years. He was faster than Nico Rosberg when he tested with Williams (Link).

That doesn't prove much, unless he gets the chance to race in a reasonably good car, we can never truly judge his potential. Would the drive with Hispania give him that, I don't think so. But I for one won't grudge him (by wishing that he be sacked or any other way) his comeback.

Originally Posted by pranavt

Another country famous for pay-drivers is Japan, who have almost always been sponsored by Honda or Toyota. Barring a couple of moderately-good drivers and an upcoming star, the rest of the pack has been below standard. All it ends up doing is create a negative stereotype about the particular country's drivers.

All teams require a lot of money to run, generally the smaller teams get the drivers to pay a huge chunk, in fact Narain was asked to provide $11.7 million to retain his seat at Jordan. While you have a point about the stereotypical Japanese drivers, our count of drivers in Formula 1 is way too small to form a stereotype.

[raj.barcode]

Force India won't launch 2011 car until second test | Force India | Formula 1 news, live F1 | ESPN F1

Force india will not launch the new car till second test and Yes Narain has signed for hrt

HRT signs Narain Karthikeyan for 2011 | HRT F1 | Formula 1 news, live F1 | ESPN F1

[anachronix]

The news should actually be read like this "Narain Karthikeyan signs HRT for his F1 seat in 2011"!

[Newpunter]

The problem with this is that no one is sure that HRT will be on the grid when the season starts. There is no news on their car and they don't have a design team. Their deal with Toyota fell through due to non payment, so i wonder how they are going to get a car, unless they plan to race with their 2010 car.

Narain is a decent guy. He is fast on his day, but his problem is consistency. He makes too many mistakes and his good days are far in between. He had a chance of being on the podium in Indy 2005, but he lost out to Tiago Monteiro who was a really slow guy.
I hope he does better in his second chance. Atleast, he doesn't depend on his dad's connections to go places. All his achievements have been through sheer hardwork.

[pranavt]

Originally Posted by Amartya

Also, I think Narain deserves another chance and while he did crash on the last race, Williams thought that he was good enough to be their test driver for a couple of years. He was faster than Nico Rosberg when he tested with Williams (Link).

By that logic, Karthikeyan was faster than Schumacher and Rosberg, considering this year's performances.

[2theMax]

@Pranav : What are you trying to prove ? It's clear you don't like this bloke. you don't have to try hard.

I would not even in my insane sense would hope that somebody's ride breaks down,leave alone getting sacked..uh that's gross.

This thread is digressing.Thanks to you .

[GTO]

Congrats to Narain! Hope 2011 works out well for him.

Note from Mod : Please stick to the topic.

[Hatari]

Suprise surprise!
We didnt have a clue on what Narain & HRT were planning.
With the Indian GP on, this was the ideal year for Indian drivers entering F1
TATA is investing pretty heavily in motorsport, which is a good sign.

But the question is, isnt this bad news for Chandhok?
It will be extremely difficult for 2 Indian pay drivers to be in F1

[route666]

i dont think both of these guys have raced against each other in the past,rite? so it would be nice to see karun in the other HRT seat and we can once and for all decide who the fastest indian is . Congrats to Narian..

[pranavt]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Suprise surprise!
We didnt have a clue on what Narain & HRT were planning.

Nothing to plan. You show up 3 days before a race with a huge sum of money and one of the existing drivers will mysteriously have an upset stomach or some other random health complaint. HRT is nothing more than a very expensive track-day car rental service.

[amitku]

For most Indian F1 fans like myself, NK was the second biggest thing to happen after Schumacher. F1 popularity grew tremendously when NK took to the track. We also have to credit him for having the faith of Tata's and other sponsors to get the bucks required to re-enter.
Congrats to NK Will wait to see him in Noida for the Indian GP.

[v1kram]

Good news and my best wishes to NK.
Looking forward for the season with an additional excitement.