Winning formula? Narain fancies racing fighter jet
Economic Times — January  5, 2003

Can you walk with a broken rib?” Narain Karthikeyan surprised this correspondent with a question on his health. Apparently, there was something wrong with the formula of his back. India’s F1 hope could barely manage to sit through his lunch last weekend, when he was here for the National Karting Championships. 

He said it was one of the karts that did it. “There’s no support for your back on these karts. You are not strapped at all. I bumped a lot and got thrown around.” The result was a sore back, starting to show some signs of swelling. But that wasn’t all. The champ had just recovered from an attack of dengu. However, the Formula league seems to have hardened Narain’s back and neck enough to help him talk to ET with as straight a face (and back) as was possible. But isn’t he used to such back injuries? “This doesn’t happen at Formula,” explains Narain. “You are strapped so tight in a Formula car, you can barely move. But there are the incessant jerks, though.” For that, there’s the rigorous F1 training. 

“I normally have to work out for at least three hours a day, more than half of which is for the upper body. It is absolutely necessary to harden your neck to prepare for the F1 car jerks,” says Narain. So how long do Schumi or a Ranieri train for? “Schumacher and (Mark) Webber are some of the fittest F1 players, and they train hard too. Schumi’s cardio extends for over four hours a day.” 

And then the actual practice/driving sessions follow? “No, actual training (testing) doesn’t happen that often. It’s too expensive,” says Narain. So the bigger the team, the more practice or testing the players get. While Schumi might get about 40 days of race-track practice a year, smaller teams like Minardi get much much less, he explains. And what’s Narain’s practice like? “My team gets six days at the most in a year,” says Narain, sporting a smile. So how expensive will be a place in the Minardi team? “I don’t know…I am not sure. But it’s awfully expensive,” Narain tries to skirt the question. But pressed on to hazard a guess, he says, “It should at least be £2m. Teams are hard-pressed to raise funds. Hence, drivers have to get their own money.” 

He agrees getting sponsors is an uphill task. But ask about his sponsorship deals, and he snaps shut. “I am not allowed to talk about it. These are all long-term deals.” Once in the F1 world, would Narain fancy racing a fighter jet? “Yes, of course. Why not?” he says. And what’s the fastest that the ‘fastest Indian’ has driven at? “345 kph.” and rushes off to the doctor. 

However, the story’s different for top teams like Ferrari or Williams. “They pay drivers to race for them. But then these drivers have proved themselves. Eight of the top 10 F1 drivers have, at some point, raced with Minardi,” points out Narain. 

But we can’t let him off without a question on the experience of driving a F1 car. “After you’ve driven a F1 car, all other cars are child’s play,” gushes Narain. The 3,000-cc machines are made of fibre-glass, weigh less than 600 kg and are built to suit drivers’ needs, he explains. Once in the F1 world, would Narain fancy racing a fight jet? “Yes, of course. Why not?” he says. And what’s the fastest that the ‘fastest Indian’ has driven at? “345 kph,” says Narain, and rushes off to the doctor.