Opinion | Power of the mighty rupee comes to the fore: Narain Karthikeyan
India's Narain Karthikeyan is an ordinary driver with a powerful sponsor
With the Indian Grand Prix on this weekend, this column poses the question: what's the point of Narain Karthikeyan? This is purely in racing terms, as I'm sure he's a splendid fellow.
This weekend is the only time when the sport's spotlight is likely to shine with any intensity on the Indian. It's his home grand prix and if there's something the sports-mad nation loves more than having top sport in their backyard, it's having one of their own involved. The rest of the time it's hard to know why Karthikeyan is still at the top table of motor sport.
Super licence or no, his record is poor and he's hardly young and full of potential. Even back in 2005 when he had his first F1 outing with Jordan it didn't go well. Getting a grip of your clutch and being able to get away from the grid smartish is a basic requirement of any driver, but it seemed a step too far for Karthikeyan. The next season he was testing with Williams and sounding upbeat, but it would have been a brave person who bet on him gracing the grid again.
And yet there he was last year, lining up for HRT. New teams like this always need a driver of experience to help them as they navigate the choppy waters of Formula One, a driver who can give valuable feedback and take responsibility for helping to bring the team on. It was Pedro de la Rosa who gave the team that. De la Rosa spent a long time with the McLaren set-up and has seen most things in the sport.
Karthikeyan has hit the headlines this year, but for all the wrong reasons. He was involved in an unseemly spat with Sebastian Vettel after the two clashed in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Vettel called him an idiot; Karthikeyan called him a cry baby. All very mature. The rest of the season was nothing to write home about. A sequence of qualifying last and mostly running towards the back of the pack, if not crashing out, didn't set the pulse racing.
Karthikeyan is at the team for one overriding reason - money; more specifically the cash he brings to HRT with his Indian sponsor Tata. The sad truth is that he's not the only driver who is there because he has pulled together a big wad of cash that helps the team keep racing.