THE MALAYSIAN Grand Prix had Indian Formula1 fans high in expectations since this was Narain Karthikeyan’s first F1 start in about 6 years and the long-straights in Sepang would mean that Force India would be a potent force come Race Day. While Narain’s race ended prematurely, Force India F1 fans were treated by Paul di Resta’s 10th place finish.
The weekend started on a mixed note for the Indian drivers, Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok. Karun sat out Friday’s Free Practice 1 session whereas Narain Karthikeyan finally had a complete car that he could drive! Narain’s HRT machine failed to make the cut in qualifying in Australia and their primary focus was to ensure qualification for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Come qualifying, Narain and his team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi managed to clock laptimes that were a full second quicker than the 107% benchmark time. For Narain, however, his laptime was a second slower than his Italian team-mate and started 24th and last on the grid.
For HRT and Narain, to complete the entire race distance and gain car mileage was extremely critical, but however it was mission unaccomplished on Race Day. Narain’s F-111 suffered from high water temperatures and hence had to retire as a precautionary measure to avoid any damage to the engine. Narain had to retire from the race as early as lap 14.
Post race Narain was quoted in the team’s press release, “The car balance was not the best but we have some information from Tonio because he almost completed the race. It’s a shame because I was just settling in when I was forced to abandon but anyways, now I’m focused on China where I will be looking to finish the race.” Good luck indeed for Shanghai!
The Force India Formula1 team was rewarded for their reliable and consistent performance in Sepang. Rookie driver, Paul di Resta finished 10th and managed to collect one championship point for the Indian F1 team. Team-mate Adrian Sutil finished 11th and just outside the championship points position. Their Malaysian performance was a progression from their performance in Australia where the team secured double points finish.
The team benefited from others reliability woes, which included a double DNF for the WilliamsF1 team and retirements for Sergio Perez in the Sauber. Vitaly Petrov’s crash in the last few laps of the race promoted Paul di Resta into the top ten. The high point for Force India in Malaysia was that they were battling the Mercedes GP cars of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg who finished 9th and 12th respectively.
Their performance in Malaysia revealed that qualifying is the team’s Achilles heel and needs much improvement. The team started in 14th (di Resta) and 17th (Sutil) positions on the grid, which if improved, could yield better results on Race Day. The Mercedes package (engine + KERS) is working very well for the team, but for some few KERS related niggles that Sutil faced in free practice.
The Chinese Grand Prix is scheduled for next week, which means that performance from Narain Karthikeyan and the Force India Formula1 Team will be pretty much the same. Narain’s constant fight will be to qualify for the GP and then of course attempt to beat his team-mate.
The Force India team will hope that their consistency and reliability yields a few more points in Shanghai. While their focus is to move towards the sharper end of the grid, they must keep a watch on the Team Lotus Racing cars. Heikki Kovalainen came within 4 tenths of Paul di Resta’s practice pace in Malaysia.
As for the other Indian, I am hoping to see Karun contribute to Team Lotus’ progress in the Friday Free Practice 1 session in Shanghai. The question is – will he be given a drive?
