Karthikeyan finishes 17th at British Grand Prix
Narain Karthikeyan produced a sparkling drive under difficult conditions to clinch the 17th position on the grid for the British GP.
Narain Karthikeyan on Saturday produced a sparkling drive under difficult conditions to clinch the 17th position on the grid for the British Grand Prix.
Narain's performance made up for the disappointment of his Jordan teammate Tiego Monteiro being relegated to back grid as a penalty for engine change during the practice sessions on Friday.
Monteiro will start 20th last after he completed a formal one lap at the qualifying at the Silverstone circuit.
Championship leader, Spaniard Fernado Alonso of F1 Renault, took the pole while contender Kimi Raikkonen of Finland too was penalised for an engine change and dropped ten places 12th in the starting order despite a second place finish.
BAR-Honda's Jenson Button and Raikkonen's McLaren teammate Juan Pablo Montoya occupied the second row in that order while Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were 10th and sixth respectively.
"I had a decent lap today," Narain said. "I think the wind was a bit stronger compared to this morning so it changed the balance of the car a little but I think my time was pretty good and showed that we are well ahead of the Minardis."
"Unfortunately after the penalty ... We had to adapt our strategy for the race on Sunday. This explains why I only did an installation lap," Monteiro said.
"It is really a pity because I was quite fast on this circuit yesterday and this morning. The car was also doing really well so it is a bit frustrating," the Portugese added.