• Australian Grand Prix

Karthikeyan facing 'uphill task'

ESPNF1 Staff
March 24, 2011 « Webber keeping an eye on Mercedes and Renault | »
Narain Karthikeyan has concerns about making the grid in qualifying © Sutton Images
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Narain Karthikeyan has admitted it will be an uphill task to get used to the brand new HRT at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

The car will run for the first time on Friday after the team failed to get it ready in time to test at Barcelona earlier this month. Karthikeyan last raced an F1 car over five years ago at Jordan and has only had running in last year's HRT to prepare him for his return.

"We will have to see how it goes tomorrow [Friday] as it will be the first time," he said. "An uphill task, but I will go with the flow and see what happens."

One of the main concerns for the tail-enders is the 107% rule that will see drivers fail to make the grid if they are not within 107% of the pole time in qualifying. Last year HRT drivers would have fallen foul of the rule on a number of occasions, but Karthikeyan is confident the team has made a significant step forward this year.

"Of course that is a concern, but we believe the car is a good step forward with the Williams rear end and everything else so it should be a positive step, at least on paper but until you drive you never know," he said. "We will see what happens. I can go on and on and on, but only when we drive on the track will be know where we stand."

Despite the uncertainty ahead of the first race, Karthikeyan is confident the car will come good as the season progresses.

"The car was designed very late and we have some clever people in the team, Geoff Willis is the main man behind the new design of the car, so as the season progresses and when updates come we should be in a reasonable position," he said. "It is easy to sit here and say we want to be the best of the new teams but Lotus has made a big step forward. Anyway we will go with the flow and it is an important year for me with the Indian Grand Prix. As you know motorsports in India is going to grow a lot. I am looking forward to it so hopefully we will have a reasonable year."

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