planetf1.com

NK is reportedly in talks with Vijay Mallya for a Force India seat. This conundrum could explain the delay in the lineup announcement. He was a talented driver, but never had the opportunity to shine in competitive machinery. FI could easily be his savior. Plus, it's time to have an Indian in an Indian team.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130208/s ... orce-india

Oh dear.

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Warning: The above post may contain sarcasm.

Can you imagine Di Resta and Karthikeyan in the same team, how exciting that would be?

I can't see that happening he simply is not good enough, one scenario i could see though is him getting the third driver seat if Bianchi gets the second race seat

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PFI Pick 10 Competition

Current Standing: 16th

Can't see this happen.

Is it really getting this bad?

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Forza Fernando !

Please god no.

If this happens I can see Force India finishing behind STR this year.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Well, Narain wants the second seat. Also, he has more sponsorship backing than he did last season. Its going to be pretty hard to beat with TATA knocking down your door with other Indian sponsorships.

Also, we need to be fair. If he gets this seat, this will be his first time in a decent car in his whole entire career in F1. We have to give the guy a chance before we begin to scrutinze the move Force India will make between Sutil, Bianchi, and now Karthikeyan. I would like to see him in the FI and really see what he can do with a proper midfield car.

Its either this or Indycar because Karthikeyan does not really like Mallaya in the first place... I'm still slightly surprised he would want to go to Force India, but realize the amount of money that can come in with an Indian on the team...

Good luck to Narain!

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Felipe Massa fan/supporter since 2002 and counting!

He's had two full seasons in F1 and in both he was deeply unconvincing against an average team mate. In the 2005 US Grand Prix farce he had a golden chance to claim a podium finish and beat his team mate whilst the cameras were on them but he blew it big time. He is a below average driver who doesn't belong in the echelons of the sport I'm afraid. There are a dozen drivers who would deserve that midfield seat more than he does.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Well at least Paul can finally beat a team-mate of his.

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This would be the final nail in the coffin of the credibility of the sport.

Karthikeyan has been the worst driver on the grid for the last few years!

He will go to IndyCar and race at the rear there too.

Okay.

I believe in giving chances. Was he ever in a decent car though? The Jordan in 2005 was an old Arrows chassis for goodness sake and the team was cash strapped. Then, he raced with HRT.

We don't know how he will perform if he goes to Force India. We can make assumptions all we want, but we won't know until Oz. I understand your point because he has been ho-hum, but I have a bias for this guy. I think he just needs a decent car to show what he can do. There are many who I would like to see in the seat as well, but it will be difficult to ignore the amount of money he is offering.

I wish him luck, like I do any other driver. Thats all I can do and to every other driver in the running for that FI seat.

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Felipe Massa fan/supporter since 2002 and counting!

It has always been the case of "What If" for Karthikeyan.
He could have used such opportunity 10 years back, probably even deserved it much earlier. But now, I am not sure. I mean I would really like to see what he can do in half decent machine for once, but if it means it can cost a team like Force India vital points, I dont want to see that happening. But I wont be as dismissive of him as others have been. I liked him since his early days, but I would rather see Karun get another chance if it has to be Indian driver.

You don't have to be in a decent car to impress in F1. Ask Alonso and Webber. He was beaten by Montiero in 2005 and Tiago wasn't F1 standard himself. Narain is not a world class driver, and I'm fairly confident Di Resta would embarrass him into the next century if they were team mates.

Also the 2005 Jordan had nothing to do with Arrows. The old Arrows chassis was used by Super Aguri in 2006 in which Sato managed to impress people with some gutsy drives.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Good point, I messed up my facts there.

Well lets agree to disagree.

I'm not going to say anything else about it. We will see and the final decisions to come soon...

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Felipe Massa fan/supporter since 2002 and counting!

NK is history - there must be a helluva lot of other better drivers worthy of that drive?

Being in a bad car has nothing to do with it, its being dominated by your teammate that shows he's not good enough

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PFI Pick 10 Competition

Current Standing: 16th

Deccan Chronicle is a pathetic newspaper when it comes to sports. This is not going to happen in a million years. Mallya summarily rejected Narain many times, he won't take him now.

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Apparently religious people didn't like my signature, hah! Don't read it if you are so offended by it.

When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. - Robert Pirsig

VJM said last season NK has never proven he deserves to drive for FI and wont take him just because he is indian so i really doubt his opinion has changed that much.

Trouble is by giving Narain a chance it denies a chance to somebody else. I think of the drivers Force India could chose Karthikeyan is less deserving than someone like Bianchi.

Give him a third driver seat for all I care, but basically everyone who has recently lost their seat is better, and then there are eager and promising rookies (like Bianchi) as well.

He's 36 years old. Bianchi is 23. Sutil is 30. Now consider the merits of Karthikeyan. In my opinion, there's nothing that makes him more deserving of a racing seat in F1 than the other commonly rumoured candidates for FI, or many other seatless drivers.
Yes, he has money behind him, and that's likely enough to get him a test driver seat - he can probably do that. But racing? I sure hope not.

Vijay Mallya wouldn't let that happen in a million years. They don't like each other one bit.

If this happens i will no longer watch F1.

The pay driver situation is becoming a joke. It's supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsports. The best teams, the best engineers, the best drivers. Not the best teams, the best engineers, and whichever drivers have the deepest pockets

VJM's opinion may not have changed but one thing has.... he is poorer now than he was this time last year.

If they are going to get in Indian driver why don't they get Chandok, in my opinion he's much better than Narain.

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Jenson Button Fan.

He's out of money and NK still has some? That said, I don't think Chandok is particularly better as a driver. He's a nicer guy though.

Well from the top to bottom.

Buttons fault. They were racing for position at the time.

deemed NKs fault in shitty weather (And which F1 driver hasn't made a mistake in shitty weather)

Mechanical failure.

So 1 out of 3.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

Please nooooooo. Was looking forward to laughing at him in IndyCar.

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Makes no sense and sounds like a bad joke.
1) Karthikeyan was beaten by all his teammates in 2 and a half seasons of F1: Monteiro, Liuzzi and De La Rosa. None of these really had a memorable F1 racing career.
2) Mallya has said that no Indian driver is good enough for the FI seat
3) Mallya has stated they are in no financial trouble (dunno if that is true though)
4) I can think of a dozen drivers better to fill that seat (heck I would even root for Sutil now to get the seat instead of Narain)

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F1 fan since 1989

Narain finished ahead of De La Rosa in the 2012 standings due to a 15th place finish in Monaco...

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

You'd think if they wanted an Indian driver, they'd stick Chandock in and the sponsors would come running.

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Warning: The above post may contain sarcasm.

LOL!

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I really have a hard time believing this one, in particular because it would seem they passed up other 'pay' drivers or ones with financial packages (thinking Senna for sure as one) who would bring more in that area than I assume Narain can bring. (In that regard, it would only make sense taking NK over one of those if it also earned some relief from pressure from the Indian government on VJM.)

It would make sense as a good PR move to bring him on as a test driver. If that proves to be the case, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised by such a move.

The other thing, reading this that I thought... if it comes to pass, every other team that has been criticized this off-season for taking on a driver because of sponsors or backing, must be thinking.... why couldn't FI have done this much earlier? It would have made their choices look a good bit better by comparison and probably brought them less heat for the choices they made.

My god, India gas over 1 billion people, there is someone better than NK with just as much money...its gotta be a mathematical constant.

If this is true, Narain the rainmaster must have some serious financial backing because far better pay-drivers such as Kobayashi, Senna or Petrov were left without a seat.

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"OHO!-magazine number 46/2006: - I read somewhere that I drive with the luck of a drunk."

The real mystery is what Tata sees in him. I can only assume there are some family ties in the equation.