Returning Karthikeyan vows to ‘catch up’ on F1

Narain Karthikeyan has vowed to “catch up” with formula one after spending much of 2010 racing a NASCAR Truck in America.

The newly-signed HRT driver revealed on Twitter that among his first jobs in preparation for 2011 is to buy the 2010 F1 Season Review on DVD.

“Missed loads of races while racing in the US, need to catch up!” said the Indian, who turns 34 this week.

Karthikeyan has not raced in F1 since his debut season in 2005, and quotes attributed to him in the Deccan Herald newspaper suggest that he is struggling even with the very short history of his new employer.

When asked if he expects HRT to have a better season this year than in 2010, Karthikeyan answered: “The car that they had last year was really bad in terms of the engine they used.”

HRT used the Cosworth engine in 2010 and intend to stay with the Northamptonshire marque this year.

“They (HRT) have a lot of promising plans drawn out for the 2011 season and I’m hoping that it all materialises,” added Karthikeyan.

Another problem for Karthikeyan might be his physical condition, given that he revealed that only “10 days ago” he “almost signed up” for another NASCAR Truck season.

Team boss Kolles admitted that when he was in charge at Jordan in 2005, Karthikeyan’s “biggest negative point” was his fitness.

“But his physical fitness during the Le Mans races, which are very long, was very good,” added the HRT chief.

Karthikeyan admitted recently that leaving NASCAR for a seat with a small team in F1 was a “big risk”.

“In 10 months, I will know if it was the right or wrong decision,” he told the Times of India on Monday.

© RIF | GMM