Narain says goodbye to Formula One

After weeks of ‘will he won’t he,’ Narain Karthikeyan has confirmed that he will not line-up on the Formula One starting gri...

After weeks of ‘will he won’t he,’ Narain Karthikeyan has confirmed that he will not line-up on the Formula One starting grid in 2006. Having made history by becoming the first Indian to drive in an F1 championship for Jordan last season, Narain told the The Indian Express that talks with Midland F1 (formerly Jordan) — the only team still to name their second driver — has been aborted.

According to Narain, Midland is believed to have put their price at 10-12 million euros, which according to Narain apart from being “too high”, was also far beyond expectations compared to the deal Jordan and Narain had made for 2005.

“I don’t think it’s fair to spend that type of money, particularly when Midland F1 themselves need it for massive expansion and more so developing the car,” Narain informed. Without going into the details, Narain, is not disappointed by the turn of fortunes. “It was coming — I knew it all along — but then negotiations were on and so were the hopes,” he added.

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Having already done a season as a ‘pay driver’, Narain says that he would rather not want to do so again. “There are other teams and if not this year things may just get better. Let’s wait and watch.”

The 28-year-old Chennai racer, who reportedly was on a shortlist of three – included Williams’ tester Anthony Davidson and Portuguese Tiago Monterio – to be the teammate to Dutchman Christijan Albers, has thus decided to stick to his original plan which is become a test driver.

“We are having talks with some teams and over the next few days things should materialise,” he added. Narain, as first reported by The Indian Express, was on Williams’ shortlist as their Friday tester.

With Narain out of the Midland’s list, it is believed that Rookie of the Year Tiago Monterio, who according to Narain, “is strongly backed by his country’s government”, is most likely to get the drive.

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Midland, in their ‘effort to discover talented drivers,’ have short-listed World Series Renault driver Markus Winkelhock and former FIA GT world champion Thomas Biagi for their one-day test in Jerez on December 10. Likewise, the team has already named Nicky Pastorelli as their Friday tester.

Narain’s decision ended his 10-month fairytale in F1 – after he officially signed for Jordan on February 4, 2005 — but his hopes are high of definitely getting back in the F1 fold soon.