Pink slip on cards, after the red signal

In what may not appear as music to the ears of hordes of Narain Karthikeyan’s supporters, Jordan’s new owner Alex Shnaider has sai...

In what may not appear as music to the ears of hordes of Narain Karthikeyan’s supporters, Jordan’s new owner Alex Shnaider has said that the ideal Grand Prix driver line-up for the team would be a Canadian and a Russian.

Shnaider, the Toronto-based Russian billionaire who bought the Jordan F1 team this year, met promising Canadian Andrew Ranger recently. The 18-year-old and his agent were at the Canadian Grand Prix making contacts with F1 teams, media reports said here today. “Our doors are open to drivers of all nationalities,” Shnaider said.

“But obviously, because I’m Canadian, I’d like to have a Canadian driver just as I’d like to have a Russian driver because of my Russian origins. It would be great to have,” he was quoted as saying by the Canadian media. Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro of Portugal are the current drivers for Jordan.

Karthikeyan, India’s first F1 driver, came under criticism from team manager Colin Kolles who slammed the racer for wrecking the car at the Monaco Grand Prix. Shnaider was born in Russia, moved to Israel and then moved to Toronto with his family in 1982 when he was 13. He has since built a fortune in metals, shipping and real estate, much of it in former Soviet Republics.