where do you see Narain Karthikeyan in F1 ?

[checkmyprofile]

After a good show at the Jeraz Practice session i feel narain has a good chance of getting the second driver to williams in 2006 f1 seasn , what do you guys reckon ?

[Skam85]

Williams 2nd driver? Don't you mean 3rd driver? They have signed Rosberg, remember?

[mark_l]

I can see him sitting on the sidelines in 2006

[mbathshah]

Apparently Wurz is now available - Williams would have to get him if he were available since he would bring a lot of info from his Mclaren days

[spectator22]

Nowhere. Even the massive rupees he brings isnt enough to get him a testing role at a top team such as Williams. Joins the list of over-optimistic, new world drivers (headed by Alex Yoong) who have been relieved of a pile of dosh under the guise of "widening the F1 net" ........

[maltafan]

The fact that Williams have not offerred hi a contract yet, shows that there is a high possibility to see him amongst the supporters. The max he can get is the 3rd seat at Williams, although highly unlikely.

[QuickSilver]

To answer the thread question, I don't see NK racing in '06. Maybe he has a small chance at a Williams testing role.

And am I reading this correctly? The thread starter made 1 post and got himself permanently banned. Yikes!
-

[BootsOntheSide]

Must've been someone who's already been banned in another name.

As for this question, Narain could get the 3rd drive at Williams - it would save them having to redesign the chassis for Wurz to fit, and data form his test runs would be more useful than Alex's, as the car would be more similar to what Mark and Nico have underneath them.

[QuickSilver]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

data from [Narain's] test runs would be more useful than Alex's, as the car would be more similar to what Mark and Nico have underneath them.

Honest question Boots: does the size/weight of the test driver make THAT much difference? I always thought, above all else, a tester had to be consistent.
-

[chillibowl]

personally i do see a role for him in F1 and for this up coming year is see the logic of him staying as a 3rd/tester at Williams.

he's got speed whiched he showed at the test and hes got money which Williams needs/wants. Sir Frank has always been very adept at finding sponsership from new areas/industries and NK can help in this.

also he brings more to the table than AP did this year, so for Williams its still an improvment in the 3rd/test role spot, imo.

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Honest question Boots: does the size/weight of the test driver make THAT much difference? I always thought, above all else, a tester had to be consistent.
-

Excuse me for diving in here, but I think in the case of Alex Wurz it does matter..He is very tall for an F1 driver which must make the cockpit design a little more difficult. back to the original question. I not sure if we will see Narain in F1 in the near future.

[QuickSilver]

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

Excuse me for diving in here, but I think in the case of Alex Wurz it does matter..He is very tall for an F1 driver which must make the cockpit design a little more difficult.

Agreed, but is size a critical deciding factor when it comes to who is the better tester? Wouldn't it come down to who is consistent and able to provide precise feedback to the engineers?

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Agreed, but is size a critical deciding factor when it comes to who is the better tester? Wouldn't it come down to who is consistent and able to provide precise feedback to the engineers?

i hope this is not too much of a stretch!

with the cockpit redesigned, and given that there is only so much room to begin with, will any movement of electronic components, part, etc. make the car different in terms of performace. and if the car thus becomes different wont that negate any benefits of consistency as you will then have a situation where you have match whats done in a different car to what you will use on race day.

i imagine that this problem can be reduced by only using the tall guys car for specific duties like tire testing and not for evaluating internal components.

but thats just a guess.

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Agreed, but is size a critical deciding factor when it comes to who is the better tester? Wouldn't it come down to who is consistent and able to provide precise feedback to the engineers?

I could not agree more with you..If only choosing F1 drivers was just based on pure talent and technical feedback. The role of test driver is in my mind every bit as important as the role of the race driver. There is a great post by Rennen in the "Jerez Testing" Thread about test drivers. If anyone should know he would

[Amar7605]

Narain will get at least a testing role on some team because, if anything, F1 wants to crack into the Indian market, and there needs to be an Indian driver in the series to do that. If not, then no one will really care.

And to top it off, Indian fans won't really care unless he is on a good team. Now, Williams is in limbo right now, but they have a great history. If Narain can be their test driver, then in 07 he could get a chance to be on a higher-tier team.

[BootsOntheSide]

Chillibowl has basically touched on my thoughts here - the 2006 Williams has not been designed to accomodate a driver of Wurz's build, and changes would probably need to be made in some of those areas to fit him, which could make his car functionally different to that of the race drivers. If Narain can't provide consistant and reliable laptimes, he is not the ideal test driver, but perhaps Kiesa offers the ideal balance between the two?

[Nismo]

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

Excuse me for diving in here, but I think in the case of Alex Wurz it does matter..He is very tall for an F1 driver which must make the cockpit design a little more difficult. back to the original question. I not sure if we will see Narain in F1 in the near future.

I hope thats the last we see of him!! he should go state side and do oval racing.. he is not f1 material

[MCWB]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

And am I reading this correctly? The thread starter made 1 post and got himself permanently banned. Yikes!
-

Two actually that I saw (one was deleted), looks like he signed up purely to promote his forum...

[lookleft]

If there is room for sato then there has to be at least another opportunity for Narain. Number 3 somewhere this year with a probable return in 2007.

[safc_fan89]

Originally Posted by checkmyprofile

After a good show at the Jeraz Practice session i feel narain has a good chance of getting the second driver to williams in 2006 f1 seasn , what do you guys reckon ?

I don't think Williams should go for him, he's too erratic. Alex Wurz would be the ideal driver for testing and as 3rd driver, but his height is somewhat of a disadvantage. That's a shame, because he doesn't deserve to be out in the cold.

[Thorstone]

Originally Posted by mark_l

I can see him sitting on the sidelines in 2006

yes I think that is the truth

[mark_l]

Narain never set the motor racing world alight when he was in F3, I don't think he will be any different in F1.

Just another Renta driver who will be gone when the money runs out.

[WebberForWDC]

For Williams to spend lots of money on Wurz's salary would be idiotic when you have lots of people falling over themselves to bring cash to do the same role! Hehe.

With regards to the "new world" that has nothing to do with it. Klien would NOT be in F1 on merit, he got lowly second in F3 to unpopular crasher Ryan Briscoe.. and entered F1 as a pay driver. Yet Klien is regarded as quite a capable F1 driver after some experience, just as Karthikeyan is gaining experience.

If Kiesa brings more cash, and is consistent if slower, thus Kiesa may be the option taken then.