Narain Karthikeyan in F1

[Cinefan]

Narain has become the first Indian to break into F1.While many of us have read about his exploits,not many have actually seen him in action.Is there anyone here who has seen him race live or on television.Also at 28years is he late to the field?By signing him up is Jordan respecting his talent or is there an eye on the huge market potential in India.Opinions please.

PS:This thread can also be used to track his performences beginning March 6th.

[jaiganes]

yes!!!
He officially got his license yesterday!!
F1 has the second most popular following in Indian TV audience. I guess the popularity is now going to go up. 28 is not a bad age for debut in F1 as Michael Schumacer is 36 and he is the champion. I wish Narain wins atleast one Grand Prix and makes max podium finishes!!!

[Bad Boy]

yes!!!
He officially got his license yesterday!!
F1 has the second most popular following in Indian TV audience. I guess the popularity is now going to go up. 28 is not a bad age for debut in F1 as Michael Schumacer is 36 and he is the champion. I wish Narain wins atleast one Grand Prix and makes max podium finishes!!!

28 for debut? I predict him only two seasons, perhaps not even a compleete season. He must have been having some good sponsors, like that guy from Malaysia (don't remember his name, he is now only a shadow in the F1 circus ) came with petronas' dollars. We have got few others two.

Sorry, I have never heard of him but where had he been all the years?
Racing where?
Please don't compare MS with anyone else. That guy is an extra ordinary chap. I don't know if you know Heinz-Harald Frentzen. It was told in younger ages that HHF was the better driver of both. But MS has this will to win.
He donated 7.5 million € to the tsunami relief but I am quite sure he could have done more, it would not have been a wesp sting either for him.

But please tell me who is this Indian/Dravidean guy running arround with MS, his pyschologist or something?

And Narain to Jordan? My goodness! Isn't it that Jordan is almost bancrupt? Feel sorry for this indian chap. Minardi, Jordan huh! Not good. Not a wise decision.

Perahaps wes should talk about F1 in couple of months how disapoiniting it is ofr India that Narain joined Jordan.

I am keen on updates because I think I got to the right place to have more infos about this guy than anyone else here in Germany!

[hehehewalrus]

I have not seen him live but his dad several times. His cousin was my classmate.

[Bad Boy]

I think this is a quite good site for F1
http://www.formeleins.de/04/index.html

Does this Indian pilot has a site of his own?

[hehehewalrus]

Bad Boy here it is
http://www.narainracing.com/index.php

[a.ratchasi]

... like that guy from Malaysia (don't remember his name, he is now only a shadow in the F1 circus ) came with petronas' dollars.

He's Alex Yoong.
Once the pride of the country :cry:

[Cinefan]

There seem to be no F1 fans here which shows in the complete inactivity of this thread or is everyone waiting for the season to begin:? Anyway Narain seems to be doing well for himself in the testing currently going on.I don't think he&the Jordan team are looking at pole positions/podium finishes/wins.They want to start&complete all the races(maybe aiming at 10-14 position) which will prove to be an indicator on the car's reliability&then as the season progresses aim higher. It's unreasonable to expect bigger things from him as yet.

http://sify.com/movies/tamil/fullstory.php?id=13676294

A slide show of 'Narain on wheels'

[Sandeep]

Before talking about wining lets see if he gets pole position. Both the Jordan drivers are late entries into F1. Havent got the kind of time required to train together and become a team.

MS on his own is not unbeatable,
Ferrari on its own is not unbeatable,
But MS on Ferrari is unbeatable.

[Akash]

with Barichello, Remember He always a good Team player..
Ferrari guys are dare in taking decisions, in the middle of a session who the hell will change the TYRES all on sudden(Michelin to Bridgestone)!!

Remember this MS started his Career with Jordan!!

[RR]

Narain fastest amongst rookies


Sunday, 06 March , 2005, 13:04

Melbourne: Narain Karthikeyan had a none-too-impressive Formula One debut finishing 15th at the season opening Australian Grand Prix which was won by Renaults Giancarlo Fisichella on Sunday.
Karthikeyan started the race, which was flagged off with 20 drivers in fray, in 12th place before slipping to 18th on his first lap at the Albert Park circuit.

He finished at 15th spot, one place ahead of fellow Jordan rookie Tiago Monteiro of Portugal. Karthikeyan could take heart from the fact that he ended the race fastest amongst the rookies.

Defending champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari failed to finish crashing out with 15 laps remaining..

[Tamil_Socrates]

karthikeyan should try to bring race circuit to coimbatore and make covai proud

[Cinefan]

http://in.rediff.com/sports/2005/mar/06narain.htm

Narain talks about his debut race.

[Querida]

Saw this guy in action yesterday when watching the Melbourne F1 race...was surprised that he was indian! Even started a thread about him without knowing Cinefan beat me to it :roll: :D

check this link out for latest race news on Karthikeyan:

http://www.dancewithshadows.com/narain-karthikeyan-f1-jordan-2005.asp

[Cinefan]

Saw this guy in action yesterday when watching the Melbourne F1 race...was surprised that he was indian!

if you were in India instead of Canada,you would have known,the media is hyping him so much that the Ind-Pak cricket series is all but forgotten.I was shocked to find out yesterday that the first test begins from TODAY!

[Cinefan]

Narain improved on his position from his debut race to finish 11th in the Malaysian grand prix yesterday.Renault's Fernando Alonso won the race while Ferrari once again struggled with Micheal finishing 7th to pick up 2 points while Rubens crashed out.The first two races of the season has seen Renault,Toyota,Williams&RedBull do very well while traditional strong finishers like Ferrari&Mclaren are struggling.While this has opened up the field&new faces are occupying the podium,fans of MS will surely be disappointed.Hope the Scarlet Red makes a strong comeback.After all whenever MS has been written off,he has comeback like a tornado.

[blahblah]

Cinefan,Count on Schumacher to strike back.After all he is one of the all time greats of the sport.

And for Narain,I am glad he is being as sensible as he is.This is a tremendous improvement and he has proved that he belong to the big stage.This is only his second race in F1 and he is slowly but surely progressing towards a great career.I am sure not many people expected him to finish eleventh.

Any Malaysian Indians had been there? :)

[Cinefan]

Cinefan,Count on Schumacher to strike back.After all he is one of the all time greats of the sport.


He better strike back-the media&everyone else have very poor memories.The Indian Express writes "Once dominant Ferrari"as if they were dominant eons ago&not last year,the TOI says"Micheal crashed from his God-of-fast things into an also ran seventh &proved he also needs a great car to rise above all".

BTW blah blah,why is Ferrari struggling?Is it becos they are still using last years car,is it tyres,is it new regulations or is it that everyone has become better than them this year&MS has lost a bit of his skills?

http://sify.com/sports/columns/fullstory.php?id=13698006

This article tries to find answers to a few of my questions,interesting read.

http://in.rediff.com/sports/2005/mar/21f1.htm

MS on Ferrari's troubles.

[blahblah]

I heard that at Bahrain,they are coming out with their new car.The success of Renault so far is attributed to their car.Schumacher and Ferrari have a history of striking back after McLaren winning three races at a row.

[Cinefan]

It was another disappointing day for Ferrari while Renault continued their amazing start to the season winning the race with Fernando Alonso.He started from pole&notched up his second consecutive win.It also took him to the top of the driver's standings with 26 points.For Ferrari,the new car made a verygood debut in qualifying as MS started out in 2nd place&was breathing down Alonso's neck for about 10 laps,but a hydraulic failure terminated his race rather prematurely.The new car has speed but it's reliability has came under a cloud.From here on,it will be very very very difficult for MS/Ferrari to win the championship/constructor's trophy.

After finishing his first two races,Narain had to retire with mechanical failure.

[blahblah]

Oohm!So much for Narain!It was disappointing for him and Jordan.

I wonder what is happening to Ferrari and Schumacher! :roll:

[Cinefan]

I wonder what is happening to Ferrari and Schumacher! :roll:

If you haven't read the Sify article(the link for which I have given a couple of posts back),do it.You might just get the answer to your question.

[blahblah]

I read it the day you posted it.But it doesn't offer a much clear picture of what is happening.

All I know is that Ferrari has a history of striking back after McLaren winning three races at a row!Now that sounds something like this Renault story,doesn't it? :wink:

And for the first two races they used the car from the last season.

[HindustaniLadka]

It is great to see a fellow Indian finally participating in F1. :D

What car is Karthikeyan driving?

[Cinefan]

It is great to see a fellow Indian finally participating in F1. :D

What car is Karthikeyan driving?

Jordan

[HindustaniLadka]

Is the Jordan car powered by a Tata engine?

[blahblah]

Is the Jordan car powered by a Tata engine?

Tata?? :o

I thought it was Toyota engine!!

[king of chennai]

Hey people, i want to share my experiencewith you.Me and my friends went for the Bahrain grand prix day before yesterday,we took indian flags and all other stuff to support Narain Karthikeyan.Since we bought the tickets in the last week we had to be seated at the last.During the qualyfying sessions when ever Narain Karthikeyan passed by we used to shout on top of our voices and all the westerners used turn back look at us as if we were mad.Then the race started,and we were cheering him,after some time Narain Karthikeyan's car stopped and guess what the race just started and was in its 4th or 5th lap we were all stunned.We wanted to recover from it,so we went to the f1 village(it's the place where they sell f1 merchandise)we pooled in money and bought a couple of ferrari flags and caps we came back to the stand and began cheering for schumacher but alas he too retired we were shocked again.Then we started cheering button then he too went of the race.We thought we were unlucky and stopped supporting.overall the bahrain grandprix was entertaining,Before the race started 2 gulf air aeroplanes were performing stunts and they were just 500 feet above the ground.Alonso and Trulli didn't do much they just had to drive with out errors Raikonnen and Pedro dela rosa were a treat to watch.thank you for reading.

[Cinefan]

Phew,What a race it was yesterday at Imola!A combination of good luck,aggressive,class driving&Team Ferrari's smart pit stop strategy ensured that Micheal finished 2nd,just 0.2sec behind Alonso who scored his third successive win to lead the driver's standings after 4 races.The morning did not show any glimpse of the things to come as MS made a fatal error in qualifying which left him 13th on the starting grid.With Ruebens too starting 10th,Ferrari looked down in the dumps(not for the first time this season)With Kimi taking pole&Renault/Alonso continuing the good work,it looked like a battle between those two.But Kimi's car broke down early into the race&Alonso seized the opportunity to speed away.But MS&Ferrari had other plans&he pushed his way to third,second,led briefly before Alonso took the lead again.After that it was a see-saw battle as MS pushed Alonso to the limit&there were innumerable occasions when MS looked like overtaking.But to Alonso's credit,he held his nerves&emerged winner.If this race is anything to go by MS/Ferrari/Bridgestone are back&if all the leading teams maintain this form we have an exciting season ahead.

BTW,Narain(on whom this thread is based :D )had another finish in 14th place.He looks a cut above his team-mate&has taken to the job like a fish to water.But only a better car can really exploit his talents.Will Jordan provide it or will a more accomplished team give him an opportunity. Only time will tell.

http://sify.com/sports/columns/fullstory.php?id=13726459

Another report on the race.

[blahblah]

Right Cinefan,I don't think Narain can prove himself with a stone age car :lol: .

I have ever thought that Schumacher will fight back and he did just that yesterday.I am sure that Ferrari will not leave everything to Renault in the coming races.A superior car doesn't mean everything.

I do like real fighters and so I admire Schumacher.As I wrote earlier in this thread,Ferrari has a history of coming back after McLaren winning three races in a row.

[Cinefan]

http://in.rediff.com/sports/2005/apr/27f1-col.htm

Another column on the race at Imola.

[Cinefan]

I was on vacation&so missed out on last Sunday's race.Kimi finally got a car which delivered on speed&reliability&got Mclaren their first win of the season.Renault(Alonso)came second reinforcing the fact that they are very strong contenders for the championship&constructers.MS had a horrible tyre day&DNF while Ruebens was lapped.After Imola,there was a lot of talk of Ferrari being back but still a lot of work needs to be done. :(

[Cinefan]

Kimi roared to his second consecutive win of the season at Monaco yesterday to move up to second in the drivers standings with 27 points.Alonso managed 4th place with completely worn out tyres to remain in the lead with 49 points while Heidfield&Webber in Williams finished 2nd&3rd respectively.Montoya in the second Mclaren was fifth&Ralf in his Toyota finished sixth.MS(fighting an accident)&Reubens in the Ferrari finished a disappointing 7th&8th.It now seems to be curtains for Ferrari this year with the main challenge being between the steady Alonso&a rejuvenated Kimi.

[Cinefan]

As the season has proceeded,it's becoming more&more clear that Renault/Alonso have become the Ferrari/MS of this season.Heidfield of Williams started on pole but a lot of cars touching/pushing each other shook up the field.Kimi with ruined tyres looked like moving towards his third consecutive victory with Alonso(also with ruined tyres)running second.But a lap before finish Kimi's car stalled allowing Alonso to get a dramatic win&taking a 32 point lead in the drivers standings.Heidfield finished second while Ruebens took his first podium finish of the season.It also gave battered Ferrari some points.Coulthard finished fourth for Red Bull&MS took the fifth place.

[Nerd]

Its a pity that Narain and his team are yet to score a single point this season.. lets see what happens this weekend.. actually Jordan-Ford and Toyota dint do well last season either:

Jordan-Ford 5 points
Toyota 9 points

and the drivers:

Oliver Panis(Toyota) 6 points
Christiano da matta (Toyota) 3 points
Nick Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford) 3 points
Timo Glock (Jordan-Ford) 2 points

Remember this time its Jordan-Toyota and both the drivers are yet to score a single point.. apart from them 2 other teams are yet to score a point..

Narain, I think he deserves a better team and a better car but I m afraid this will be his last season if he doesnt score a single point.. But it seems the team is happy with his performance.. way to go NK..

[Cinefan]

Kimi scored his 3rd win in the last 4 races in the Canadian GP yesterday&narrowed the gap with Renault's Alonso to just 22 points with 11 races remaining.It was a forgettable day for Renault as Fisichella&Alonso starting on the second row blasted past pole holder Jenson Button&Micheal as soon as the race started.Running on low fuel both Jenson&Micheal pitted early leaving it to the two Renaults&Mclaren's to fight it out.But both the Renault cars retired,Montoyo in the second Mclaren moved under redlights in the pit lane depriving him of the second position&Jenson also retired leaving Kimi the winner with struggling Ferrari taking the other two podium places with Micheal&Ruebens respectively.

Last year's constructors winners Ferrari&second placed BAR-HONDA are clearly struggling this season.While BAR is yet to score a point,MS&Ruebens have a couple of podium finishes each but No wins yet.

Narain who is having a series of DNF results over the last 3 races added to that tally yesterday.With a new boss at Jordan who doesn't think highly of him&the guy who was responsible for his recruitment having quit,his future in F1 even this year looks insecure.Let's hope he finds a better team next season.

[Cinefan]

http://sify.com/sports/columns/fullstory.php?id=13870846

A good article on Narain's position in F1 right now.

[Cinefan]

http://sify.com/sports/drive/fullstory.php?id=13872819

MS will quit soon says his brother Ralf.

[Cinefan]

Micheal scored his first win of the season in a farcial race as all teams except Ferrari,Jordan&Minardi pulled out over their demand for an extra chicane for durability of Michelin tyres not being accepted.Ruebens came second while Narain's team mate Tiago Monteiro(who has two Top 10 finishes&has been outclassing Narain over the past 4 races)took the third spot.Narain finished fourth handing Jordan their first podium finish of the season&the first points.All in all a race not worth talking about.

[Thiru]

yeah.. i heard the race was a bummer and narain finishing 4th out of 6 is not something to boast....

[blahblah]

yeah.. i heard the race was a bummer and narain finishing 4th out of 6 is not something to boast....

Thiru,on the contrary,Jordan advised Narain not to overdo himself,a 'crime' he has been accused of,by his boss.It was a silly race and points were assured to all who cared to participate and Narain would have been criticized severely if he had failed to finish. :) I heard that he continuously got clear messages through the team radio,not to exhaust his engine and just to endure the race.

The folly he committed in the last few races was that he tried a little bit extra and crashed out in the effort.Remember,Jordan doesn't have a Ferrari car or a Renault one! :cry:

[Cinefan]

BTW guys who do you think was responsible for the fiasco-FIA or the teams which pulled out.I would say the teams because it was their fault that Michelin could not provide tyres which suited the track.To ask for a change in rules because of faulty equipment is bizarre.If the same problem had afflicted Ferrari,Jordan&Minardi would anyone have bothered?Everyone would have started the race,Ferrari would have been forced to go slow&got beaten,all the drivers would have come up with statements that Ferrari is losing tempo,MS has lost interest and will retire etc etc etc.If Ferrari had pulled off, there would have been wide spread criticism.Hypocrites-withdraw to cover up their faults&then talk of ppl getting cheated,farce of a race etc.

[Thiru]

I would agree that it was the teams fault not to participate...A couple of my friends were looking forward to this race for a long time.. They had booked their tickets long back and were too disappointed that they saw a poor race... It seems that FIA is talking to the teams about refunding the ticket cost and the teams which boycotted have to bear it.. Not sure what will be the outcome..

blahblah, yeah it was good that he finished the race, but I would have been more happier if he had finished 3rd ahead of Tiago...

[Anoushka]

.....

blahblah, yeah it was good that he finished the race, but I would have been more happier if he had finished 3rd ahead of Tiago...

I too feel the same Thiru, I wanted to hear them play our National Anthem.....

[j.chenkalvarayan]

let's face it. narain is no schumi.

[Thiru]

To me Narain winning a F1 race is as close to Leander winning Wimbledon...

[sonu gopi]

let's face it. narain is no schumi.

Schumi was Narain once upon a time - never under estimate anyone - give him a Ferrari and he would work his way up. Give Jordan to Schumi and see what happens!! :wink:

Years of experience as a mechanic/bestowed with the best car is backing Schumi to tune his car into perfection - yet he is still learning. Narain has a long way to go and lot more to learn - to pick up the finer skills in F1 and of course to be equipped with a better car and backed by a team of best mechanics. :D

I am a Ferrari fan but that doesn't mean I forget an Indian racer - was hoping that Narain would get up the podium instead of Tiago - wanted to hear the Indian national anthem/see the Indian flag hoisted majestically specially for us Indians throughout the world. :clap:

Is that too much to ask? :roll:

**********
Sonu Gopi :)

[hehehewalrus]

To me Narain winning a F1 race is as close to Leander winning Wimbledon...

And Leander won the junior in 1990 :)

[blahblah]

let's face it. narain is no schumi.

And Jordan is not Renault or Ferrari! :lol: :lol:

Ofcourse it was the Teams' responsibility to make sure that they had the right tyres.This looks silly.It is like a sprinter saying that the race has to be stopped as he has got the wrong shoes on! :lol: :lol:

[sonu gopi]

let's face it. narain is no schumi.

And Jordan is not Renault or Ferrari! :lol: :lol:

Ofcourse it was the Teams' responsibility to make sure that they had the right tyres.This looks silly.It is like a sprinter saying that the race has to be stopped as he has got the wrong shoes on! :lol: :lol:

Yes...truly silly with such lame excuses...but a good lesson learnt to be well prepared for future races. :lol:

Narain (Jordon) did better than Tiago (Jordon) in yesterday's final qualifying - Grid Position No. 17.....but felt so sorry to see him swaying in that damn Jordon!! :(

Wishing him all the best in today's French Grand Prix @ 7.45pm (M'sian Time). "Try harder Narain...you can make it - but be careful"..!!

Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) was 3rd fastest after Alonso (Renault) and Jarno Trulli (Toyota) respectively - gets penalty to start at 13th for an unscheduled engine change due to a failure in Friday's practice. That leaves Ferrari's World champion Michael Schumacher to move up to 3rd position directly behind Alonso with BAR's Takuma Sato alongside.

All the best to Michael too - my all time favourite!! :wink:

**********
SONU GOPI :P

[j.chenkalvarayan]

it seems 17 is the favourite number for naren. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Cinefan]

Alonso led from the start to the finish&won yesterday's Grand Prix in style.Kimi who started from the 13th position on the grid finished second while Micheal finished third(incidentally his pole position too).

Infact the three podium winners in the race are also placed in the same order as far as the championship points are concerned.Alonso leads with 69 points with Kimi on 45&Micheal on 40.

For viewers accustomed in seeing a wave of Scarlet red in the stands,yesterday was a surprise as the Blue&Yellow of Renault surpassed the red of Ferrari.Is it a sign of things to come?Personally I hope not. :) [/list]

[Akash]

And Jordan is not Renault or Ferrari! :lol: :lol:


But, Sumi's First Debu in F1 was with Jordan only!!

[Vini Vidi Vici]

Narain does not belong to F1!
Atleast his own team mate should be left behind, always, if you excuse his driving with having not a good car. He perhaps may be a good \"thEr\" ootti if there is a Formular ThEr.

From my point of view he is not fully concentrated while driving. He had a big chance to beat his mate and be always on the lead compared to his team mate but he is a poor pilot.

[Cinefan]

Narain does not belong to F1!
Atleast his own team mate should be left behind, always, if you excuse his driving with having not a good car. He perhaps may be a good \"thEr\" ootti if there is a Formular ThEr.

From my point of view he is not fully concentrated while driving. He had a big chance to beat his mate and be always on the lead compared to his team mate but he is a poor pilot.

I totally agree.Narain has not got his priorities right.He must aim at finishing all his races that too higher compared to his team mate(in qualifying&end-of-race).He was doing that at the start of the season but along the way he has set his ambitions too high.he believes(rightly so)that he won't be a driver to reckon ,with Jordan&so is trying too much to impress the other, better teams.But he will only end up without a place in F1 next year.

[Vini Vidi Vici]

Though I am not indian I was and still happy to see the second indian in the F1 circus. The first is Schumis personal mental trainer and friend, I don't know his name. He decided to quit after this season.
Anyway not to finish third in Indianapolis is like not knowing how to eat a mango.

[blahblah]

I totally agree.Narain has not got his priorities right.He must aim at finishing all his races that too higher compared to his team mate(in qualifying&end-of-race).He was doing that at the start of the season but along the way he has set his ambitions too high.he believes(rightly so)that he won't be a driver to reckon ,with Jordan&so is trying too much to impress the other, better teams.But he will only end up without a place in F1 next year.

You have written what I wanted to.So I am not repeating it.

Yet there is one truth -All Indians try too hard and break down in the process since they are too ambitious[Particularly in sports-as they have the weight of a billion people on their shoulders] :cry:

[Cinefan]

Juan pablo Montoya was the unexpected winner for Mclaren in yesterday's Grand Prix in Silverstone.Championship leader Alonso was second while Kimi(who for the second consecutive race had an engine change&lost 10 places on the grid)started from 12th&finished third.Fisichella who was all set for third place stalled a bit after his second pit-stop&so finished fourth.

Local favourite Jenson Button helped himself&BAR for their first points of the season finishing fifth.Micheal(who's has been having a disappointing season prompting all&sundry to not only predict his retirement at the end of this season but also make statements to the effect that Ferrari's domination has ended&they will not be contenders for a looooooong time)finished sixth&team mate Ruebens finished seventh.

After a forgettable first half this year,Montoya finally got things right.Starting from third position he had a roaring start&at the first corner overtook Alonso to become race leader.After that it was a cat&mouse game between him&Alonso but a fast car,good driving&an intelligent pit stop strategy saw him emerge winner.

Meanwhile Narain who started 17th developed electrical problems&retired.

[Raghu]

what happened to BAR honda :twisted: :twisted: ??

Last year they were second in Manufacturers Champion ship,
Is Button a Good Driver??? :roll:

Renault, Toyota ahead of Honda is a bij joke :banghead:

[Thiru]

Narain frustrated after British GP

July 11, 2005 11:14 IST

A frustrated Narain Karthikeyan rued his failure to make use of a "good start" at the British Grand Prix where he was done in by an electrical failure on the 11th lap.

"I had a very good start and overtook [Felipe] Massa but unfortunately he was able to repass me at Becketts," Karthikeyan said after the race which was won by Juan Pablo Montoya.

* Montoya wins British Grand Prix | Images

"However, I had a very good pace and I managed to run with the pack of Massa, [David] Coulthard and [Nick] Heidfeld. Unfortunately, shortly after, the car stopped apparently because of an electrical failure," the Jordan driver said.

Massa finished the race at the 10th place, Heidfeld 12th and Coulthard 13th.

"It is very frustrating, as it is the second weekend in a row that I am experiencing some problems with my car, although I managed to finish the race in Magny-Cours. It is really a pity as I was going very well all weekend."

Adrian Burgess, Jordan's Sporting Director, said though the Indian is doing a "fantastic" job, luck is not on his side.

"Poor Narain, again he did not have any luck in the race. As always, he was doing a fantastic job keeping up with Massa, until we had an electrical failure, which shut the engine off and forced him to retire the car."

Burgess said the team would be giving better equipment to the drivers for the next race.

"We are now looking forward to the next race and will try to work harder and give the boys better equipment."

Karthikeyan's teammate Tiago Monteiro of Portugal, who came 17th in the race for his 11th straight finish of the season, said he believed his team chose the right strategy for the race.

"We were quite heavy at the beginning and planned on having two stops. I had a great start, passed a few cars and followed Narain as closely as possible in order not to let him get too far ahead.

"Unfortunately Narain experienced some problems and I was racing alone for a long time. Then, halfway through the race, I was told on the radio that [Takuma] Sato was still behind me. So I was really pushing like crazy to stay away but he was just to quick.

"There was nothing I could have done. Everybody was very reliable for this race therefore it was very hard for me to finish in a higher position.

"I have now finished 11 races out of 11. It will be hard for the next rookies to beat this record," Monteiro added

[Cinefan]

Schumi can kiss goodbye to the title.


http://sify.com/sports/drive/fullstory.php?id=13894099

[rami]

Here are some interesting facts about Formula 1 racing

01. An F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled 99.9% correctly, it would still start the race with 80 things wrong!

02. Formula 1 cars have over a kilometre of cable, linked to about 100 sensors and actuators which monitor and control many parts of the car.

03. An F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!!!!!!!

04. F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly before blowing up on the other hand we expect our engines to last us for a
decent 20yrs on an average and they quite faithfully DO....thats the
extent to which the engines r pushed to perform...

05. When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences
retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through
a BRICK wall at 300kmph !!!

06. An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one
race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour (Yeah thats right!!!)

07. At 550kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini Bus.

08. In an F1 car the engine typically revs upto 18000 rpm,(the piston
travelling up and down 300 times a second!!) wheres cars like the
palio, maruti 800,indica rev only upto 6000 rpm at max. Thats 3 times slower.

09. The brake discs in an F1 car have an operating temperature of
approx 1000 degees Centigrade and they attain that temp while braking before almost every turn...that is why they r not made of steel but of carbon fibre which is much more harder and resistant to wear and tear and most of all has a higher melting point.

10. If a water hose were to blow off, the complete cooling system would
empty in just over a second.

11. Gear cogs or ratios are used only for one race, and are replaced
regularly to prevent failure, as they are subjected to very high
degrees of stress.

12. The fit in the cockpit is so tight that the steering wheel must be
removed for the driver to get in or out of the car. A small latch
behind the wheel releases it from the column. Levers or paddles for changing gear are located on the back of the wheel. So no gearstick! The clutch levers are also on the steering wheel, located below the gear paddles.

13. To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and
added downforce can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track.

14. Without aerodynamic downforce, high-performance racing cars have
sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160kph.
They usually race at over 300 kph.

15. The amount of aerodynamic downforce produced by the front and rear wings and the car underbody is amazing. Once the car is travelling over 160 kph, an F1 car can generate enough downforce to equal it's own weight. That means it could actually hold itself to the CEILING of a tunnel and drive UPSIDE down!

16. In a street course race like the monaco grand prix, the downforce
provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race all of
the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent
this from happening!

17. The refuelers used in F1 can supply 12 litres of fuel per second.
This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average
50 litre family car.They use the same refueling rigs used on US
military helicopters today.

18. TOP F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds. & 8 sec to read above point.

19. Race car tyres don't have air in them like normal car tyres. Most
racing tyres have nitrogen in the tyres because nitrogen has a more
consistent pressure compared to normal air. Air typically contains
varying amounts of water vapour in it, which affects its expansion and
contraction as a function of temperature, making the tyre pressure
unpredictable.

20. During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5kg
in weight due to wear.

21. Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to
last 90 - 120 km.

22. A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best
grip) when tread temperature is between 900C and 1200C.(Water boils boils at 100C remember) At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.

[Cinefan]

Alonso wins again,his 6th in 12 races so far this season.

http://sify.com/sports/drive/fullstory.php?id=13902522

[Cinefan]

Kimi blasted his way to his fourth win of the season to reduce the gap between himself&championship leader Alonso(who started sixth,had to pit after mayhem in the first corner&finally finished 11th,outside of points).Starting 4th on the grid,he made it to second overtaking Trulli&team mate Montoya.Micheal who made it to his first pole of the season had a clean start.Both he&Kimi traded fastest lap timings&it looked like it will be a close battle.But the reliability problems of the Brigestone tyres of Ferrari which has haunted them all season&has been the main factor in their poor performance came back&half way into the race Micheal had to slow down.

But Kimi&Montoya had no such problems&were all set to make it 1-2 but one of the Mclerans broke down again(This time Montoya's&not poor Kimi's)allowing Micheal to finish second(warding a strong challenge from younger brother Ralf in a Toyota)a good 35 seconds behind Kimi.

A couple of more races like this( Kimi winning&Alonso not picking up a point),the title race will surely open up.
With six more races to go in the season,the challenge is hotting up.

Narain finished 12th with team mate Monteiro finishing 13th.

[Cinefan]

http://in.rediff.com/sports/2005/aug/16bar.htm

Ruebens leaves Ferrari for BAR,Fellipe Massa will be Micheal's new partner from next season.

[Cinefan]

http://in.rediff.com/sports/2005/aug/21turkey.htm

Kimi wins the inagural Turkish Grand prix,Alonso finishes second&Montoya third.

Micheal has a DNF while Narain ended up 14th.

[Anoushka]

Cinefan, did you watch the F1 yesterday... another dramatic one where the second and third position changed in the last two laps!!!

[Anesh]

Jaiganesh my man, Narain has been in the field for sometime, He has been doing quite well in the Formula 3 and Nippon races where he was seen has a bright driver. This impact paved some chances for this lad from Chennai to be a test driver for Jaguar Racing Team. Due to some circumstances he did not get a driving seat with them because of Christian Klime and Eddie Irvine.

The guy has determination but to bad the Jordan is a really tough car to drive. The poor development of the car makes it really difficult to compete with the likes of BAR and Sauber let alone the big fours of Formula 1.

Comparing with The Red Baron is just a cliche. But if one knew how Schumi became a champion he was not that good. His nasty ways of winning and the untimely death of Senna.

[Thiru]

Looks like Narain is going to be dumped by Jordan

http://sify.com/sports/drive/fullstory.php?id=13935546

[Cinefan]

http://in.rediff.com/sports/2005/sep/11kimi.htm

Kimi won yesterday.Narain finished a credible 11th while teammate Monteiro(with a faster car)took a point in 8th place.

[Anoushka]

Cinefan: I hoped to see your update after the last F1 of the season! Alonso and Renault the champions this year :) Narain crashed though! A very dramatic F1 where the safety car had to come out twice...

btw, will Narain be in the scene next season?

[j.chenkalvarayan]

always felt karun chandok is a better driver than narain. i'm eagerly waiting for karun chandok to get the elusive break.

[Cinefan]

Cinefan: I hoped to see your update after the last F1 of the season! Alonso and Renault the champions this year :) Narain crashed though! A very dramatic F1 where the safety car had to come out twice...

btw, will Narain be in the scene next season?

:D

I have not updated for the last 4 to 5 races,kind of lost interest as it became clear that neither Micheal nor Narain are going to do anything worthwhile.

ya,the last race was pretty dramatic&the way Narain's car almost disintegrated was a sight to watch.Wonder what went thro'his mind,clearly the first major accident for him.

I don't see him getting himself a seat for the next season.Maybe he will become a 'test driver'for some 'good'team.