Will Narain stay in F1 in 2006

Hugh_Jarse · Post by **Hugh_Jarse** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:02 pm

The chances of Narain securing a race drive is virtually impossible now. Midland have apparently signed monteiro and Albers. So lets pray that Narain gets a good test drive role (hopefully williams, which appers to be the best seat on offer) so that he can showcase his talent and perhaps get a chance to race in the event of one of the drivers falling ill.

redfever · Post by **redfever** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:08 pm

MIdland are asking some 9-14millon $ for the seat

.which is impossible to gather at this stage.so the seat goes to TM who has strong goverment backing.

jaydeep · Post by **jaydeep** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 1:45 pm

Karthikeyan unlikely to drive for Midland in 2006

In this interview Narain again clearly mentioned that he is targeting for test driver position for 2006 season.

Jaydeep.

vkd_1717 · Post by **vkd_1717** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:59 pm

I hope NK is looking at Red Bull and BAR (who will probably have their current test drvier at Super Augri) because those are the seasthe has a chance of getting.

redfever · Post by **redfever** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:06 am

what about williams then?

raul · Post by **raul** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 5:11 am

I think it will be williams,may be the announcement is round the corner.

jaydeep · Post by **jaydeep** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 11:29 am

Narain Karthikeyan's saga with Midland F1 bosses keep continue to go places to places ... Reporter Ruhi Batra covers nicely in TOI ... Here is some part of it.

Karthikeyan, F1 team boss in war of words

On Tuesday, however, it was announced that Narain and his sponsors wouldn’t be able to raise the 10-12 million euros (Rs 53-64 crore), thereby kissing Midland goodbye.

Narain Karthikeyan - The Midland deal had fallen through as they were demanding too much money.

Midland F1 (formerly Jordan Grand Prix) - It’s not really about money. (Narain Karthikeyan’s) His own “unprofessional behaviour and his unprofessional management’’ have cost him a Formula One seat for 2006.

The team’s managing director, Dr Colin Kolles speaking from the team’s headquarters in Silverstone, told TOI - “Narain has lost out because of his management. A pro driver has professional management but we didn’t see that in Narain’s case.’’ “Narain was just not available for us.’’

Narain Karthikeyan - “To begin with, I stand by what I’ve said. The figures quoted to us were in the range of 10-12 million euros. If they had been less than that, or closer to what we spent last year, I would’ve jumped at it. I can’t raise the kind of money they want.’’ “If he (Kolles) doesn’t like the way we work, we too don’t like the way he works. I don’t care what he feels about my management. Their offer, which was made in Monaco, was simply too high.’’

Dr Colin Kolles - “The figures being quoted are not true. Narain had a very fair offer from us and it was much less than what he has said. Money is not really the problem. To succeed in Formula One, one needs a lot more.’’ “Narain is a very pleasant, nice person but that’s not enough for Formula One. He has to be professional too. He’s a quick driver for sure, but obviously he needs a good set of people around him. The management’s job is to take away all problems but that was never the case with him. He drove very well when his head was free.’’ “It wasn’t just financial. He had a very precise offer from us.”
“For sure, he needs some backing from India. Unfortunately, and I don’t know why, he’s not able to raise enough sponsorship." Kolles, however, claims that their team hardly benefited from his presence. “The benefits for us were zero. It definitely proved beneficial for Narain and India but it did nothing for Jordan. India still hasn’t seen the potential in Formula One. Smaller countries like Portugal or Holland are willing to back their drivers."

Narain’s decision to look out for a test drive instead, for the next season, hasn’t really impressed Kolles. “He could have a future. But right now it’s a question of availability and not preference. One has to keep in mind his age too. If he doesn’t find the backing soon, he may not have many options,’’ Kolles said.

Jaydeep.

raul · Post by **raul** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 2:48 pm

Collin kolles is playing mind games with narain,he knows that India has a hug e formula 1 following,and he wants narain to bring as much money as possible.But when narain backed off,Colin Chavski went public criticising narain as how unprofessional he and his management are,so as to ruin his image among other teams as well.

amr090 · Post by **amr090** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 7:44 pm

The worst part is each side claims to be saying they offered/were offerd a different figure. Narain says 10-12 million euros and Kolles says significantly less than that...i dont see why narain would lie about this so i tend to believe him on the figure.

kallu · Post by **kallu** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 11:25 pm

Kolles is just furious because narain made the cost of his seat public and made midland look like a unprofessional money sucking organisation. lol why would narain say he cannot affor the seat when he can !

raul · Post by **raul** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:48 am

TM has made public announcement in Estoril(portugal)that he signed for midland.So the Team is expected to announce this week.

India1989 · Post by **India1989** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:01 am

I think that Narain won't drive in F1 now. He had to give like 10 million dollars to join Midland. And then something happened and Narain was rejected. The Midland boss told that Indians are still not prepared to drive in F1. They don't know how much skills are needed.

raul · Post by **raul** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:54 am

According to his close associates,he is leaving for UK to seal a deal as a test driver with a guaranteed race seat 2007,based on the evaluation of his perfomrmance.

amr090 · Post by **amr090** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:19 am

is there any chance he will be moved up from test driver to main driver next season though?

raul · Post by **raul** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:30 am

I think its the test driver/reserve driver for 2006,what it does mean,if at all the regular drivers are unavailable then NK gets the chance to drive for that particular weekend.
But as of now no race seat for him till 2007.Anyways hope for the best.

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