Formula 1
HRT signs Narain Karthikeyan
Published: Jan 9, 2011, 10:09 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Narain Karthikeyan signs with Hispania Racing for the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship
Friday, 07 January 2011 - "The Fastest Indian in The World", Narain Karthikeyan will make his long awaited and promised comeback to the pinnacle of world motorsport, The Formula 1 World Championship, in 2011. After many months of negotiations and discussions with several Formula 1 teams, Narain Karthikeyan and his management have finally inked a contract with Hispania Racing as a race driver for the 2011 Formula 1 season.
Since his last stint in Formula 1, as a race driver for Jordan Grand Prix in 2005, and a test driver for Williams F1 in 2006 & 2007, Narain has been racing competitively at some of the highest levels of international motorsport. From 2007 until 2009, he was the lead driver for A1 Team India in A1GP, The World Cup of Motorsport, where he won two races and achieved one pole position, becoming the first Indian ever to win a World Championship race. In 2009, he raced for the Kolles Audi Team in the Le Mans Series and the Le Mans 24-Hour race, again becoming the first ever Indian to race in that legendary event. The car finished 7th overall.
2010 was one of Narain's busiest years ever, as he raced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the USA, as well as in the Superleague Formula in Europe, where he won a race at his favourite circuit, Brands Hatch in the UK. His win there has extended his already unique record at that circuit, where he is the only driver to win a race in every series in which he has ever raced.
Hispania Racing will participate in the 2011 Formula 1 Championship with a much improved and more competitive package. The Spanish team have expanded their own resources, and have established strong technical partnerships. Along with the proven reliability of the Cosworth engine, the team is confident that they have taken a positive step forward in their engineering solutions towards becoming more competitive on the Formula 1 grid.
Colin Kolles, Team Principal Hispania Racing:
"It is a great pleasure for us to have signed Narain Karthikeyan as our race driver for the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship. I have known Narain for a long time and he can revert to the experiences he gained when he was competing for Jordan Grand Prix and being test and reserve driver for Williams F1. Narain has also been driving in other racing series and running in one of the legendary Audi sports cars in the Le Mans Series. I am sure that his experience and speed will be very useful for the team during the season. We are welcoming Narain to our team and we look forward to working closely with him this year."
Narain Karthikeyan:
"It's been a while in the making, but I am extremely happy to be racing again in Formula 1 in 2011. I have always maintained that I have not given up on my desire to return to the pinnacle of world motorsport. I am confident that I still have the pace, the fitness and the will to succeed in Formula 1. I'm looking forward to racing for Hispania Racing, and to working again with Dr. Colin Kolles. We have a long standing and excellent working relationship together. I'm also looking forward to racing at the first ever Indian Grand Prix in October, and I hope that the Indian public will spur me on with their blessings and good wishes."
-source: hrt
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Court says HRT owner Carabante owes business partner EUR 47.5m
Next article Horner denies Red Bull broke cost-saving agreement
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Narain Karthikeyan
Karthikeyan, Maini withdraw from Le Mans 24 Hours
WEC
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
Karthikeyan, Maini withdraw from Le Mans 24 Hours
Karthikeyan leads all-Indian Asian Le Mans team, eyes LM24
Asian Le Mans
Asian Le Mans
Karthikeyan leads all-Indian Asian Le Mans team, eyes LM24
Karthikeyan to quit Super GT after single season
Super GT
Super GT
Karthikeyan to quit Super GT after single season
More from
Williams
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
12 h
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Formula 1
Formula 1
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Latest news
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Winners and losers from a frantic NASCAR Cup race at Talladega
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
2 h
Winners and losers from a frantic NASCAR Cup race at Talladega
Herta endorses IndyCar’s international return with Barcelona while marveling at Palou’s dominance
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 2 h
Herta endorses IndyCar’s international return with Barcelona while marveling at Palou’s dominance
Why Chase Elliott has removed his name from NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Ballot
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
Why Chase Elliott has removed his name from NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Ballot
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe