Indian track among the best in the world: Karthikeyan

Narain Karthikeyan spoke to Zeenew.com’s Biswajit Jha, on the sidelines of a promotional event in New Delhi.

India’s fastest Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan is excited about driving for the first time in front of his home crowd at the Indian GP 2011. A driver of Hispania Racing team in Formula One, Karthikeyan tells Zeenew.com’s Biswajit Jha, on the sidelines of a promotional event in New Delhi, that the Formula One race would be a historic event and would boost the game in India.

Excerpts: How do you rate the Indian GP track? It is really a world-class track. It’s one of the top five tracks in the world. Technically speaking, what is the special feature of the track? Technically it’s a good track, too. This track is wide and will provide the opportunity for overtaking in the corners. It will be a challenge for the all the drivers. Will the track suit your team? I have already said that this track will not suit my team. There are a lot of hairpins in the track which lead into long straights. One needs a lot of traction to drive well in this track. Our engineers have been working on the shortcomings of our car. This track, on the other hand, would suit drivers with a smooth driving style. Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Sutil and Jenson Button will have a nice time driving on this track. Your take on the success of the Indian GP… Being the long Diwali weekend, crowds will definitely come and make this one of the grand sporting events in India. It will be a dream come true for many motorsports lovers in India. To be honest, I am very excited too. How will the Indian GP help promote motorsports in India? It will definitely generate a lot of interest among the youth to take motorsports as their career. It will boost the game in India. I hope India would produce a lot of Formula One drivers in the coming year. Are you feeling the pressure of delivering in front of the home crowd? There is no question that pressure will be there. But my main aim would be to enjoy the weekend driving first time in front of the huge home crowd. Do you have any realistic chance of doing well in the Indian GP? It would be naïve on my part to claim that I would make a podium finish (laughs). But I would try to drive and finish as high as possible. I would like to finish the race at the Indian GP. What is your opinion on Vijay Mallya’s statement that no Indian driver can find a place in Force India team? I never even approached Mallya to find a place in his team. Let me tell you I am not interested in driving for Force India.