Saturday: Karthikeyan blames bad luck at HRT
If Pedro de la Rosa secured a spot on the starting grid, Narain Karthikeyan will have to wait for a potential reprieve by the stewards. The Indian driver, after making a mistake on his first stint and being forced to stay in the pits for safety reasons, was indeed unable to achieve a time below the regulatory 107%.
Pedro de la Rosa – 23rd and 22nd [after Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification]:
The day went well, especially this afternoon, so I am very happy with what we have accomplished. We delivered two very good laps in qualifying, going under the 1 minute 28 second mark, which we couldn’t reach neither yesterday nor this morning. I know our position seems unchanged compared to usual, but in terms of performance, we have improved, and that is what I will remember. As I always say, we have a significant margin for improvement, but we are on the right track, and that’s what matters.
Tomorrow’s race will not be easy because it’s a difficult circuit and the rear tires degrade a lot. We need to have a good start, make it difficult for the Marussia team, and finish the race in front of our home crowd.
Narain Karthikeyan – 22nd and 23rd [after Lewis Hamilton’s demotion]:
« It’s been an unlucky weekend for me so far. This morning, everything went well, but in the afternoon, with my first set of tires, I was really pushing hard and I made a mistake in turn 3. So I had to go back to the garage. We were going to go out with a second set of tires, but we discovered some problems and, for safety reasons, not just for me but also for others, we decided that the best thing to do was not to go out again. It seems like bad luck is following me this weekend, and although I’m disappointed, there’s nothing else I can do. »
Update: Narain Karthikeyan was reinstated by the stewards and will start from 24th place on the grid tomorrow.
