Narain Karthikeyan satisfied with his performance at the first pre-season test session in Valencia
India’s first ever Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan returned to Formula 1 after 5 years as he recently joined Hispania Racing Team for the 2011 season.
He got his hands on a Formula 1 car on track for the first time after almost 3 years and is seems that he is satisfied with what his team is doing at the moment.
“It's an awesome feeling to be back in Formula 1 car again, pushing it to its limits. All of the team members at HRT and I have been working very hard over the past few days,” said Narain.
HRT are yet to reveal their new car and second full season driver for the 2011 Formula 1 season. It is believed that the team is going to reveal its new driver in the next couple of days while their car will be revealed somewhere near the final pre-season
test session which is expected to take place in Bahrain before the first race of the season.
The first pre-season test session was carried out for 3 days in Valencia and most of the teams were trying to get the best out of their new cars while others were trying to test the new tyre compounds introduced by Pirelli for the upcoming season.
“This test has not been about getting lap-times. It was more important for me to learn about the team, the car, and getting used to the specific demands of Formula 1 again. I also focused on learning about the new specification tyres, and have tried out
several different compounds,” said the Indian driver.
However, Narain finished as the 11th fastest driver on the final day of the session after scoring a time of 1:16.535 which is almost 3 seconds slower than the top running drivers.
He was expecting that the returning to Formula 1 after such a long time is going to be very hard for him but it seems that he has adapted to the technological advancements in his car very well and he is satisfied with the results his car can produce.
His team is also satisfied with his performance and they believe that Narain is going to help the team obtain the best possible results in the 2011 Formula 1 season.
“I am very happy with his progress, determination and speed. I am sure he will continue to improve each and every time he drives the car,” said the HRT team principal Colin Kolles.
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