Karthikeyan keen to stay at HRT for 2013

Greater Noida - India’s Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan said on Monday that he sees his future with his current team HRT.

“Next year I would like to stay at HRT. That’s the plan and it seems good so far,” said Karthikeyan who was at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here to test the new MRF Formula 2000 car.

“The team now have a factory and a great new facility has come up in Madrid and the car is getting better. It is a good place to stay. The management and me also have a good rapport.”

Summing up the team’s performance this season he said, “From Australia till now we have improved a lot. At the last race in Monza, we improved almost by two seconds from the pole car since last year.”

Commenting on his performance in relation to his teammate Pedro de la Rosa he said that he has been unlucky. Spaniard de la Rosa has had better finishes than Karthikeyan in all the races.

“Pedro is a very fast guy who has a lot of knowledge of the Pirelli tyres and he knows how to get the most out of it,” said the 35-year-old.

“I have had some bad luck. Qualifying from Silverstone onwards, I have been unlucky in missing Practice One on Fridays while the second practice has inevitably been wet. So to get one hour of practice on Saturday and then to go faster than a fast guy is difficult.

“And the difference between me and him is not big, only a couple of tenths. It changed in the last race at Monza and am planning to keep the momentum. The next leg of Asian races suit me and I intend to put up a good show,” said the Indian, who leaves for the Singapore Grand Prix Tuesday.

Karthikeyan will also be sitting out the first practice in Singapore. Chinese driver Ma Qinghua will be replacing him.

After driving a couple of laps at the BIC he said, “The track is still very flat, smooth and enjoyable. It has much less dust as there was last year.”