Formula 1 News
At 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of India, Noida, New Delhi - Final Results

1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:30:35.002
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +8.4 secs
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +24.3 secs
4 Mark Webber RBR-Renault +25.5 secs
5 Michael Schumacher Mercedes +65.4 secs
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +66.8 secs
7 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +84.1 secs
8 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari +1 Lap
9 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +1 Lap
10 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari +1 Lap
11 Vitaly Petrov Renault +1 Lap
12 Bruno Senna Renault +1 Lap
13 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes +1 Lap
14 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault +2 Lap
15 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth +2 Lap
16 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth +3 Lap
17 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth +3 Lap
18 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth +3 Lap
19 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault +5 Lap
Ret Felipe Massa Ferrari +28 Laps
Ret Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari +36 Laps
Ret Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth +48 Laps
Ret Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth +58 Laps 24
Ret Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + secs

Sebastian Vettel led from start to finish to became the first winner of the Grand Prix of India in New Delhi on Sunday ... McLaren's Jenson Button took second, 8.4 seconds behind and consolidating his P2 in the standings ... Ferrari's Fernando Alonso completed the podium line-up at the Buddh International Circuit.

On the first turn Kobayashi was retired due to collision with Barrichello ... There were total five retirements in the race including Ferrari's Massa ... Sahara Force India's Adrian Sutil finished on 9th position and earned points for the team in this first Indian Grand Prix ... Narain Karthikeyan started from last position but finished the race on 17th position, ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo and Lotus-Renault's Jarno Trulli.

Overall excellent the first Indian Grand Prix.

Formula 1 News
At 2011 FORMULA 1 AIRTEL Grand Prix Of India, Noida, New Delhi

Qualifying Results
Q3
1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:26.218
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.563
3 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:26.473
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.774
5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.225
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:27.012
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.364
8 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:26.271
9 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:26.608
10 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:26.557
Q2
11 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:26.189
12 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:26.790
13 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:26.864
14 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:26.829
15 Bruno Senna Renault 1:26.766 6
16 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:27.479
Q1
17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.249
18 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.876
19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:28.565
20 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:28.752
21 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1:30.216
22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:30.238
23 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:30.866
DNQ Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:34.046

Race track is looking very dusty but overall very good infrastructure and world-class facilities ... Congrats to Jaypee group for building this excellent facility.

Sahara is investing $100 millions in Force India F1 team ... So from this race this team will be known as Sahara Force India F1.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel will start Sunday's Indian race from pole ... Vettel's best of 1m 24.178s was three-tenths quicker than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who qualified in second but will drop to fifth thanks to his Friday penalty.

Mark Webber who was third will thus take second on the grid, ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Jenson Button ... Felipe Massa, who crashed on his last lap, will start sixth ... Sahara Force India driver Adrian Sutil will start from eighth ... Only Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan qualified on 22nd in HRT-Cosworth.

As per report Narain Karthikeyan also received 5 places grid penalty for overtaking Schumacher ... So he will stat from the last place.

Formula One
At 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang

Narain Karthikeyan qualified for the race posting timing below 107% rule but could not finish the race and was forced to retire after the 14th lap.


Force India managed to finish among points for the second successive race with Paul Di Resta completed race on 10th place ahead of teammate Adrian Sutil.

Formula One
At 2011 Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne

Both HRT drivers, Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi, failed to qualify for Australian GP race under '107% rule'.

In the race both Force India drivers, Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta, finished on 11th and 12th positions ... But following post-race checks, the Melbourne stewards decided that both Sauber C30s were in breach of technical regulations 3.10.1* and 3.10.2**, in relation to their rear wings, so Sauber’s Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi have lost their seventh and eighth positions ... Due to this Sutil and Paul di Resta promoted to 9th and 10th positions, which opened Force India's points account in season's first race.

Formula One News

Hispania has officially confirmed that Narain Karthikeyan has signed with the team as a race driver for the 2011 Formula One season.


Narain was a race driver for Jordan Grand Prix in 2005, and a test driver for Williams F1 in 2006 and 2007 ... From 2007 until 2009, he was the lead driver for A1 Team India in A1GP, The World Cup of Motorsport, where he won two races and achieved one pole position, becoming the first Indian ever to win a World Championship race ... In 2009, he raced for the Kolles Audi Team in the Le Mans Series and the Le Mans 24-Hour race, again becoming the first ever Indian to race in that legendary event ... The car finished 7th overall ... In 2010 Narain raced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the USA, also in the Superleague Formula in Europe, where he won a race at his favourite circuit, Brands Hatch in the UK ... His win there has extended his already unique record at that circuit, where he is the only driver to win a race in every series in which he has ever raced.

Other hand Karun Chandhok, who was a race driver for Hispania in half of 2010 season, is almost certain of not getting any race seat for 2011 season ... The most likely scenario is a test role with Tony Fernandes (Lotus Racing) ... So a year as understudy with the Malaysian outfit could see Chandhok return to the F1 grid in 2012.

Narain Karthikeyan - "It's been a while in the making, but I am extremely happy to be racing again in Formula 1 in 2011. I have always maintained that I have not given up on my desire to return to the pinnacle of world motorsport. I am confident that I still have the pace, the fitness and the will to succeed in Formula 1. I'm looking forward to racing for Hispania Racing, and to working again with Dr. Colin Kolles. We have a long standing and excellent working relationship together. I'm also looking forward to racing at the first ever Indian Grand."

Karun Chandhok - "There's no real race seat that we are chasing, we were not chasing the HRT seat at all. I've been speaking to a variety of people, but at the moment I am quite focused on getting something done for the medium to long term. If a third driver role leads to something better for 2012, then that's what I'd like to see."