Karthikeyan “not entirely comfortable” around the Yas Marina circuit

Narain Karthikeyan has expressed dissatisfaction with his qualifying performance for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after once again qualifying 24th and last alongside team-mate Pedro de la Rosa. The Indian driver has never before raced around the Yas Marina circuit, and is still not entirely comfortable around the track.

After being replaced during the opening practice session yesterday by the team’s development driver, Ma Qing Hua, Narain Karthikeyan was unable to begin learning the circuit until the afternoon practice session on Friday. Due to the technical nature of the Yas Marina circuit, Karthikeyan is still struggling greatly with the handling of his F112 in comparison to team-mate Pedro de la Rosa.

"It was a tough qualifying session for me.” Admitted Narain Karthikeyan, after qualifying 24th. “It’s my first time racing in Abu Dhabi and, being such a technical circuit, I’m finding it tougher than expected. I didn’t manage to string together a good lap; I was running well on the first set of tyres but with the second set I found traffic and the rear tyres wore out before I could improve my time. Although I’m not entirely comfortable at this circuit, tomorrow I will give everything like always to try and put in a good performance and finish the race.”

After suffering greatly from brake issues throughout the last two events at Korea and India, HRT are confident they have thwarted their brake issues this weekend at Abu Dhabi. Just like the previous two venues, the Yas Marina circuit is very hard on brakes, and neither drivers have yet to suffer from any brake-related issues all weekend.

"We completed a good practice and qualifying session.” Explained Pedro de la Rosa, “The car was running well and we had no problems with the temperature of the brakes or the engine at a circuit like this one which is so hot, so I’m happy. I think we’ve got good pace for tomorrow’s race and the first objective is to get off to a good start and keep close to the Marussias. We should try to go for one stop, hope for the rear tyres to hold out and try and put some pressure on our rivals.”

Despite Narain Karthikeyan’s tough qualifying hour, the team are confident of another productive race tomorrow. After two races plagued by brake issues, the Spanish outfit are hopeful they can retain their reliability this weekend, as they strive to see both drivers eventually cross the finish line after tomorrow’s 55-lap Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

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