Rookie Karthikeyan's 2005 review
Narain Karthikeyan says that the demanding nature of his debut season in Formula One has developed him as an individual after becoming the first Indian driver to enter the sport with Jordan Grand Prix and Bridgestone.
Karthikeyan, 28, joined Jordan in February after being recommended by the team's Sporting Director Trevor Carlin, for whom he had previously driven in Formula Three and the Dallara Nissan World Series.
Narain Karthikeyan "It has been a challenging first season in Formula One for me, but I have learnt a lot. Most of the tracks were unfamiliar to me, so I had to spend a lot of time learning the layout and getting used to the car's handling."
The Chennai-born driver, who now lives in Silverstone, was delighted to qualify in 12th place on the grid for his Grand Prix debut in Melbourne, and to finish 15th for the team owned by Russian-born businessman Alex Shnaider. His best result came at the United States Grand Prix at the legendary Indianapolis circuit in June, when he followed home his Portuguese team-mate Tiago Monteiro and finished fourth.
The Australian Grand Prix was a pleasing experience for Karthikeyan.
"I have great memories of my first qualifying in Australia and I particularly enjoyed driving there, as there is a large Indian community in Melbourne. It was an amazing feeling to see all the Indian flags around the circuit. Imola was also a great race for me as I was battling with David Coulthard and was setting some good lap times.
The United States race provided Karthikeyan with his first points of the season.
"Then there was Indy. We had an opportunity to score points and I am delighted I was able to get some World Championship points and become the first Indian driver ever to do so."
His aggressive driving style won him many fans and he fared well at the tracks that require drivers to put in extra concentration, such as Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium, and Suzuka in Japan, where he qualified a career-best 11th.
Spa could have produced another points finish, had Jordan not gambled on a switch to dry tyres too early, but there was some solace as Monteiro took the team's first point since Indianapolis.
"I really enjoyed Spa, as the conditions were tricky and I was running the EJ15B for the first time in the race. Unfortunately, my choice to go on grooved dry tyres was a bit too early. Qualifying 11th in Japan, the best qualifying place for Jordan Grand Prix this season, was great too. The bad times were obviously the five races I did not finish. I made a few mistakes like at Monaco, Canada and China."
A huge crash in final practice for the Italian Grand Prix in September threatened to rule him out of the race at Monza, but Karthikeyan is made of tough stuff, and he drove on in pain, finishing 20th despite sustaining a thumb injury.
"I was a bit unlucky, having experienced technical problems in Bahrain and at Silverstone, which unfortunately happens, but it has been a good season overall and now let's see what the future brings."
