Karthikeyan could replace Razia at Marussia
As the situation for Luiz Razia at Marussia seems increasingly precarious, rumors suggest that Narain Karthikeyan might be placed in the seat of the second Anglo-Russian car. The Indian driver would bring with him the much-needed funding from one of his powerful sponsors.
Luiz Razia, who struggled so much to finally secure a starting position this year in a Formula 1 team, seems on the verge of having to give up on his dream for the time being.
The Brazilian driver is in trouble because one of his sponsors has not paid the amount due to Marussia. As a result, Razia was unable to participate in the last tests in Barcelona last week and he is also not present today for the start of the final part of the preseason testing.
According to Rachel Brooks, a journalist for the British television channel Sky Sports, Razia’s future is bleak: Our sources have informed us that Razia’s future is currently unknown, and that Marussia is considering all possibilities.
For his part, Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio, Barcelona correspondent for the newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo, said he attempted to reach Razia on his phone but was unsuccessful. A silence that could speak volumes about the uncertainty and unease of the driver.
Since then, the list of contenders for his possible replacement keeps growing. It includes all the drivers who were already mentioned for the second seats at Force India and Marussia when those were still vacant. We’re talking, of course, about Vitaly Petrov, Heikki Kovalainen, Bruno Senna, and Kamui Kobayashi.
But the most credible lead at the moment would be Narain Karthikeyan. The 36-year-old Indian driver, without a seat since the withdrawal of the HRT team, reportedly offered his services with the help of his sponsor Tata, who would bring in a few million that Marussia is so desperately seeking.
The track of the Frenchman Jules Bianchi, recently not retained by Force India who preferred Adrian Sutil, has also been put forward.
