Overview

Narain Karthikeyan is a 35 year old Racing Driver, best known for his stints at the Jordan and HRT F1 Teams. He has raced 28 times between 2005 and 2011, scoring 5 points. He was the first Indian Formula 1 driver.

Narain started his Motor racing career in numerous Indian racing series, an industry not well known. He then moved around the globe competing in a number of racing series like the Indian Formula Maruti championship, ELF Winfield racing school and British Formula Ford Winter Series in 1994, which he won. The next few years saw Narain progress into Formula Asia, winning the title in 1996. He competed in the British Formula 3 series in 1998, 1999 and 2000. In 1998 and 1999 he competed for the Carlin team, finishing 12^th and 6^th respectively. The 1999 season also saw him win 2 races and score 5 podiums. In 2000 he took 4^th in the standings. He then took pole and fastest lap at the 2000 Macau GP but was unable to win.

In 2001 he took to the Formula Nippon F3000 Championship. He finished the year 14^th overall but with a number of finishes in the top 10. He then tested for the Jaguar F1 team, becoming the first Indian to test an F1 car. Impressed by him performance the Jordan team gave him 2 test runs in late 2001. Narain impressed on both occasions. The next year he took to the Formula Nissan World Series, not World Series by Renault. He finished 9^th in the standings in his first year, racing for the TATA RC Motorsport team. He stayed with the series for 2003 and won 2 races. He finished on the podium on 3 other occasions and finished 4^th overall. He was given the chance to race for the Minardi F1 Team in 2004 but could not collect a significant amount of sponsorship to sign a deal. 2004 saw him stay with the Formula Nissan World Series. He finished 6^th in the overall standings with 4 wins to his name.

In 2005 Karthikeyan was confirmed as the Jordan F1 Teams 2^nd driver. He took the spot alongside Portuguese driver Tiago Montiero. He became the first Indian driver in F1. He qualified 12^th on his debut and finished 15^th after a bad start. He had a few near misses of the top 10 in Malaysia, San Marino and Belgium. He scored 5 points at the US GP after finishing 4^th under strange circumstances. The Jordan Team raced on Bridgestone tyres but 7 other teams used Michelin. The later manufacturer found their tyres were too fragile for the track after a number of tyre failures in practice. Subsequently all the Michelin running drivers pulled into the pits, leaving 2 Ferrari's, 2 Jordan's and 2 Minardi's on the grid.

He did not retain his place after Jordan were brought and renamed Midland. He instead took a reserve driver role at the Williams F1 team, becoming their 4^th driver after impressing in testing. He remained in this role for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. In 2008 he was linked to a seat in the Spyker, Formerly Midland and Jordan, brought Force India team. He did not get considered however. He raced in the A1GP series during 2007 and 2008. The series was like a battle of the nations. Narain raced for the Indian team and during the races he competed in, took 2 wins and 1 second place. The team finished 16^th in their first year, 10^th in the second and 12^th in the 3^rd. The series ended soon after the 2008-2009 season ended. Narain also competed in the Le Mans series and NASCAR truck series during 2009 and 2010.

In 2011 it was confirmed that Karthikeyan would race for the HRT F1 Team. He raced in 9 rounds before being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo. He competed in a few practice sessions and the Indian Grand Prix. His best result in the backmarker team was 17^th in Monaco, Canada and India. He finished the season 26^th in the title with 0 points.