Narain Karthikeyan Fills Final Vacancy On 2012 Grid

Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan has been confirmed at HRT for the coming season, filling the final vacancy on the 2012 grid. This comes only days after it was rumored he could well return to HRT, who incidentally had him replaced halfway through last season.

Narain Karthikeyan raced for the Spanish outfit for the first half of last season, before being replaced by Australian rookie Daniel Ricciardo. Karthikeyan reappeared only once again in 2011 at his inaugural home Indian Grand Prix, surprisingly replacing Tonio Liuzzi.

Narain Karthikeyan will team-mate fellow F1 returnee Pedro De La Rosa, the Spaniard making his return to full-time racing after juggling test driver roles for McLaren and the occasional race drive for Sauber.

“It has taken a lot of hard work to make this happen but I am absolutely elated to feature on the 2012 grid with HRT F1 Team.” Said Narain Karthikeyan on the official HRT website, “I was pleased with our strong performance at the Indian Grand Prix, in front of my passionate home fans and I look forward to building on this result in 2012. I have been training hard since the end of 2011, ensuring I was ready for the rigors of F1 if an opportunity arose. I am delighted to have signed with HRT F1 Team. With the new management, Pedro, and the team, there is definite potential for progress. We need to understand that F1 is new to India, we hosted our first race only last year which was a resounding success. To build on that momentum, an Indian driver will certainly keep the interest engaged throughout the season. I am proud to secure an opportunity to forge a stronger connection between India and Formula 1 once again”.

HRT will join the other Formula 1 teams at Jerez next week in preparation for the first pre-season test, with Pedro De La Rosa behind the wheel before Narain Karthikeyan joins them from the second test onwards.