Narain Karthikeyan has always held his cool, but his patience was tested once again by Vijay Mallya who again commented on Narain’s abilities and said he wasnt fit to race in Force India formula one team or f1 for that matter. Vijay Mallya further sacked Collin Kolles and Mike Gascoyne.
Narain Karthikeyan was not impressed , he immediately went on the offensive. He called Mallya’s outift a pedestrian team. His exact words were :
“I spent a frustrating time with Jordan, where I had a car that just could not perform. I have no desire to be with another pedestrian team that’s low on performance and loud on talk,”
Despite being Indian i will agree with him here. The Force India outfit has been all talk and no show for a long time now. We have all heard of the Force India car on podium talk and how they are an Indian team for the fans.
But time after time, they have delivered nothing but failure, nothing but disappointment. It seems to be more of a money making machine than a people’s team. The merchandise launched last year was even more expensive than the Ferrari merchandise available in India. No true (not rich) Indian could afford to buy the merchandise.
Time and time again, the only people seen in Force India pits are movie actors ( actresses mainly, who would pose around the F1 car) and around Vijay Mallya himself and get clicked.
Also such comments about Narain Karthikeyan are really in bad taste and do not speak well of the team and its motives and motivation.
A bit strong words for a driver that does not exactly shine (in or our of F1). Also the team Mallya took over was not in much better shape than the one Karthikeyan raced for when the cars were still painted yellow.
But you are spot on with that description of Force India team and their attitude towards Indian public…
F1Wolf
24 Dec 08 at 9:35 am
A little rich all around. This is, what, Force India’s second year in F1? If it was that easy for any fool to buy up a F1 team and take it from the back of the grid to the front in two years, then any fool would have done it by now. There are some very clever people working very hard at the back of the grid, and it takes time to reliably compete at the front.
That said, Karthikeyan never exactly set the world on fire with his performances in F1.
It sounds like real life is intruding on the press-fueled fantasy that surrounds Force India and tensions are rising accordingly.
David Mackintosh
24 Dec 08 at 2:06 pm
@F1wolf- Narain never really got a good car to show his skills, that’s my opinion (ofcourse the fact that he is Indian also helps).
@David – Yeah, Vijay Mallya actually touched a raw nerve there, Indians dont like anyone to speak ill of their sportspersons and thats what he has done. Also some people have said that a non-driver should not comment on a driver like that.
IMHO, Karun Chandhok and Narain both are extremely talented drivers who can be successful in any good team.
Formula One Addict
24 Dec 08 at 9:43 pm
Reactions to Vijay Mallya’s remarks :
http://indiangrandprix.net/main/2008/12/25/support-for-karun-chandhok-and-narain-karthikeyan-after-vijay-mallya-outburst/
Formula One Addict
25 Dec 08 at 8:55 am