Sunday, October 30, 2011

Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan - classic F1

Formula 1 branches out into the unknown with the inaugural Indian Grand Prix this weekend, and BBC Sport's classic F1 series is also trying something new.

Instead of one driver picking his favourite all-time races, we have asked two. Those men are India's only F1 drivers, Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan.

As F1 tries to make the biggest splash it can in this new market, both men will be driving on home soil this weekend - Karthikeyan for the whole weekend with HRT and Chandhok in his usual role in Friday practice with Team Lotus.

Both men are fans as well as racing drivers - and between them they have picked a cracking collection of all-time classic races.

Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan

Chandhok and Karthikeyan are representing their country at this weekend's inaugural Indian Grand Prix. Photos: Reuters and Getty

We'll start with Chandhok's five choices, explained in his own words.

France 1979

"It's one of those iconic examples of a wheel-to-wheel battle. Everyone sort of forgets that Jean-Pierre Jabouille won the race, and the battle for second place between Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux was fantastic, the amount of times they ran each other off the road and all the rest of it.

"Think about all the penalties that are issued today. If it happened now, they would probably both have been penalised about four times a lap!

"But at the same time, they did it in a safe way. They squeezed each other but it wasn't ridiculously dangerous, no sudden moves. You could see it coming and the other guy had time to react. Fantastic wheel-to-wheel racing."

Australia 1986

"Probably the greatest championship finale - and most unpredictable, certainly - and one of the greatest seasons, and possibly the greatest field of drivers.

"If you think of the number of world champions and race winners - Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna; between them that's 12 world championships, between five drivers, that's pretty impressive. Just a fantastic race. I still have the DVD of it and I often watch it because it's one of those unbelievable grands prix."

Mexico 1990

"Prost never had the charismatic personality of Senna and he wasn't as spectacular, so he was less memorable, but he won 51 races - second only to Michael Schumacher. People often forget his great victories; but that was one of them -from 13th on the grid.

"I asked him about it in Monaco this year and said: 'What was going on?' He said: 'I saw on Friday that we weren't quick enough to qualify at the front, so I spent all of Saturday getting the car dialed in for the race.'

"It was a classic Prost race in that he allowed the car to do the work. He allows himself time to set the car up in the way he wants to get the result where the trophies and the points are, not for Saturday.

"He came through the field. It wasn't luck. He passed people. He passed Senna, drove away, and took the win. Senna dropped out in the end, but anyway by that point Prost was convincingly in the lead.

"And then on the final lap Mansell drove around the outside of Gerhard Berger at (the sixth-gear) Peraltada (corner)."

Hungary '98

"The good drivers are the ones that win races, but the great ones are those who win races they shouldn't win, and Hungary '98 was one of those races Michael shouldn't have won.

"He benefited because Mika Hakkinen had a damper problem and got held up, but it was one of those races he really should not have won in a normal dry circumstances.

"There are very few drivers who can do that - and Fernando Alonso is another one. The Sennas, the Prosts, these are the great drivers who win those races they shouldn't win.

"It also showed to the Italians. That's the sort of race they love. They never really took Michael to their hearts early on in the way Fernando instantly clicked, possibly because of the language thing. But races like that really helped."

Japan 2005

"Just an all-time great race. Where do you start? Fantastic overtaking wthout DRS or any of this nonsense.

"OK, the Renaults and McLarens had a huge performance advantage at that stage with their Michelin tyres, but, wow, Kimi Raikkonen still did the job. Giancarlo Fisichella should have walked that race. It showed the class of Kimi and Fernando.

"Two great passing moves - Fernando around the outside of Michael at 130R and Kimi's move for the lead.

"Fernando on Michael was good but it required Michael to back out of it and you're fighting for fifth or sixth place, whatever it was. But it's different when it's a move for the lead. Kimi's move to get the lead on the final lap of the grand prix. That is hardcore."

And here is Karthikeyan on his top five, in the order in which he ranked them:

Europe 1993

"Senna drove one of the greatest laps in the history of F1 when he went from fifth on the grid to leading the race at the end of the first lap, in wet conditions - overtaking Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Damon Hill and Prost in the bargain."

Britain 1987

"Mansell and Piquet were team-mates at Williams-Honda, and both were in the hunt for the championship. They had a fantastic scrap for the lead until Mansell finally pulled off an amazing overtaking move on Piquet down the Hangar. He was so marginal on fuel, that he just about made it to the end of the race."

Monaco 1984

"Senna drove another one of his incredible wet-weather displays, almost winning the race in his debut season. The race was halted because of bad weather conditions before the total number of laps were completed. Had the race gone the full distance, it would surely have been Senna's first F1 victory."

Portugal 1985

"Senna's first F1 race victory, driving for Lotus. The conditions were horrible, but his precision and ultimate car control just shone through."

Belgium 2000

"This race will always be remembered for the overtaking move by Hakkinen on Schumacher. It was probably the most incredible instinctual overtaking move in the history of F1."

As always we choose one race to highlight ahead of the coming weekend's action, and this week it is the 1990 Mexican Grand Prix - a fantastic, but somewhat forgotten, gem.

The full 'Grand Prix' highlights programme of the time is embedded below.

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The classic races will be available on the red button on digital television in the UK from 0705 - 0925 BST on Friday 28 October, which is between the first and second practice sessions at the Indian Grand Prix.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2011/10/karun_chandhok_and_narain_kart.html

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