Narain Karthikeyan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Narain Karthikeyan
நாராயண் கார்த்திகேயன்
Karthikeyan at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix
Born	Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (1977-01-14) 14 January 1977 (age 48) Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Indian
Active years	2005, 2011–2012
Teams	Jordan, HRT
Entries	48 (46 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	5
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2005 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry	2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

Narain Karthikeyan (born 14 January 1977) is a famous Indian racing driver. He made history as the first Indian to compete in Formula One, the highest class of international racing. He raced in Formula One in 2005, and then again from 2011 to 2012. Narain has also competed in many other exciting racing series around the world.

Early Life and Racing Dreams

Narain Karthikeyan was born on January 14, 1977, in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. His parents are Sheela and G. R. Karthikeyan. He has an older sister, Deepika, and a younger brother, Rajeev.

Narain went to school at Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore. His love for motorsport started very early. This was because his father, G. R. Karthikeyan, was a well-known Indian national rally champion. His father won the South India Rally seven times!

Narain's passion for racing led him to the Elf Winfield Racing School in France. In 1992, he became a semifinalist in a big competition for Formula Renault cars. This showed everyone his amazing talent.

Starting His Racing Journey

Narain quickly showed his skills in racing. He finished on the podium in his very first race in India. This was at Sriperumbudur in the Formula Maruti National racing championship.

After training in France, he returned to India. He raced in Formula Maruti in 1993 when he was just 15 years old. In the same year, he also competed in the Formula Vauxhall Junior championship in Great Britain.

Narain raced in many different series. He won races in A1GP, British F3, World Series by Nissan, AutoGP, Formula Asia, British Formula Ford, and Opel series. He won the British Formula Ford Winter Series in 1994. Then, in 1996, he became the first Indian and Asian to win the Formula Asia International series.

In 1997, he moved back to Britain. He raced in the British Formula Opel Championship. He got a pole position and a win at Donington Park. He finished sixth overall in the points standings.

British Formula 3 Success

In 1998, Narain joined the British Formula 3 Championship. He finished third twice in his first year. In 1999, he had an even better season. He finished on the podium five times, including two wins at Brands Hatch. He also got two pole positions and set three fastest laps. He finished sixth in the championship that year.

Narain also raced in the famous Macau Grand Prix. He qualified sixth and finished sixth in one of the races. He was the first driver to win a race for Carlin in British F3. He continued in British F3 in 2000, finishing fourth overall. He also got pole position and fastest laps in the Macau Grand Prix. He won the International F3 race at Spa-Francorchamps and the Korea Super Prix.

First Formula One Test

In 2001, Narain became the first Indian to drive a Formula One car. He tested for the Jaguar Racing team at Silverstone. They were very impressed with him. Later that year, he tested for the Jordan-Honda team. He was only half a second slower than Jordan's main driver, Jean Alesi.

In 2002, he raced in the World Series by Nissan. He got a pole position and set a very fast lap time at the Interlagos Circuit in Brazil. He continued in the series in 2003, getting four podium finishes. These results led to another Formula One test, this time with the Minardi team. He was offered a race spot for 2004, but he couldn't find enough sponsors to make it happen.

He continued racing in the Nissan World Series in 2004. He won races in Valencia, Spain, and Magny-Cours, France. He finished sixth in the standings.

Formula One Career

Narain Karthikeyan's dream of racing in Formula One finally came true.

Jordan (2005)

Karthikeyan locking his brakes during qualifying at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

On February 1, 2005, Narain announced he would be a main driver for the Jordan Formula One team. This made him India's first Formula One racing driver! His teammate was Portuguese driver Tiago Monteiro. Narain completed the required testing to get his superlicence, which is a special permit to race in F1.

In his first race, the 2005 Australian Grand Prix, Narain qualified 12th. He finished 15th. He scored his only points in the 2005 United States Grand Prix. In that race, most teams pulled out because of a disagreement about tire safety. Narain finished fourth, which was a fantastic result. He finished ahead of two other drivers and behind his teammate. Apart from this race, his best finish was 11th place.

At the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix, he was fastest in practice for a while and qualified 11th. In the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix, he qualified 15th. Sadly, his 2005 season ended with a crash in China, but he was not hurt.

After 2005, the Jordan team was taken over and renamed Midland. Narain did not continue with them. In December 2005, he tested for the Williams team in Spain. He finished fifth, even faster than Williams' confirmed second driver, Nico Rosberg. In 2006, Williams confirmed Narain as their fourth driver. He helped the team by doing testing duties. He stayed as a reserve test driver for Williams in 2007.

HRT (2011–2012)

Karthikeyan driving for Hispania at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

After a few years away from Formula One, Narain returned in 2011. On January 6, 2011, he announced he would drive for the Hispania (HRT) team for the 2011 season. He was very excited to race in front of his home crowd at the Indian Grand Prix. His main sponsor, Tata Group, helped him a lot.

Racing for a smaller team meant Narain often finished at the back. In the 2011 European Grand Prix, he finished 24th. This was a record for the lowest-placed finisher in an F1 race where all cars finished.

Later in 2011, Narain was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo for most races. However, he did get to race in his home event, the 2011 Indian Grand Prix. He finished 17th, beating his teammate.

2012 Season

Karthikeyan driving for HRT at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Narain signed with the HRT team again for the 2012 season. His teammate was Pedro de la Rosa. In the 2012 Australian Grand Prix, both HRT cars could not qualify.

In Malaysia, the race started in the rain. HRT chose full wet tires, which was a good gamble. Narain was as high as fifth place at one point! Later, McLaren's Jenson Button crashed into him. Narain also had an incident with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel while being lapped. Vettel got a puncture. Narain finished 21st in that race.

Narain often qualified last in 2012. However, he had some good moments. In Monaco, he finished 15th. At the 2012 European Grand Prix, he qualified ahead of another driver for the first time that season.

Karthikeyan at the 2012 US Grand Prix

He retired from several races due to mechanical issues. In Abu Dhabi, his steering broke, and he was hit by Nico Rosberg. He finished the 2012 season in 24th place with no points.

Other Racing Adventures

A1 Grand Prix

Narain also raced for A1 Team India. He made his A1 GP debut in New Zealand in 2007.

Karthikeyan competing for A1 Team India at the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa.

He won the A1GP of Zhuhai (China) for Team India on December 16, 2007. This was India's first A1GP win! He also got India's first pole position in A1GP. Narain won two feature races in the 2007–2008 season. This helped India finish in the top ten, ahead of countries like Australia and Brazil.

24 Hours of Le Mans

In 2009, Narain tested for the Kolles Le Mans Team. He was set to race in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. However, just before the race, he dislocated his shoulder in a fall. He was unable to drive.

NASCAR

Narain made his NASCAR debut in 2010. He drove in the Kroger 250 Camping World Truck Series race in the USA. He finished 13th in his first NASCAR race, which was a very good effort. Narain went on to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver Award for 2010. Fans voted for him, making him the first foreign-born driver to win this award!

Other Series

Karthikeyan during the 2014 Super Formula season.

Narain also competed in the Superleague Formula in 2010, winning a race at Brands Hatch. In 2013, he raced in the Auto GP series. He won 5 races and got 4 pole positions, finishing fourth in the championship.

From 2014, Narain raced in the Japanese Top Formula series, Super Formula. He also competed in Super GT in 2019, winning the Fuji Super GT x DTM Dream Race. In 2021, he raced in the Asian Le Mans Series.

Awards

In 2010, the Government of India honored Narain Karthikeyan with the Padma Shri. This is the fourth-highest civilian award in India.

Racing Record

Career Summary

^† As Karthikeyan was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula One Results

(key)

Complete A1 Grand Prix Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Images for kids

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  Karthikeyan at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix

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  Karthikeyan locking his brakes during qualifying at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

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  Karthikeyan driving for Hispania at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.

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  Karthikeyan driving for HRT at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix.

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  Karthikeyan at the 2012 US Grand Prix

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  Karthikeyan competing for A1 Team India at the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa.

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  Karthikeyan during the 2014 Super Formula season.

See also

In Spanish: Narain Karthikeyan para niños

• Formula One drivers from India
• TorqueX