Looks like the recession that is hitting India has led to Spice Energy backing out of the sponsorship of A1 Team India.

Neha Rastogi, the spokesperson for Spice Energy was quoted as saying

Spice Energy is temporarily out of handling operations for A1 Team India given the current economic situation. We will look forward to continue our support to the team.

The news is not all bad. Narain Karthikeyan while confirming that things have changed, confirmed that the drivers are staying put

There is a reshuffle in the management but the team will be on the grid with me as lead driver and Armaan (Ebrahim) and Parthiv (Sureshwaran) as backup

Hindustan Times adds a little bit more to the mix, predicting that Narain might step in and buy the team.

Even as A1 GP looks to find another seat holder for the team, which has now changed hands four times in as many seasons, speculation suggests it is likely to be Karthikeyan himself.

This in my personal opinion is a very good thing. Narain is a grat band ambassador and sponsors have always loved him, at least in the Indian market and he is sure to rope in a few good people to support the organization. This will also ensure that his race skills are being put to good use. Almost every F1 driver has a racing team in one league or another. This is true even for people like Tiago Monteiro, who owns a GP2 / F3000 team.

The other front of this drop out is bringing A1 GP to India, for which Spice had done a lot of work, besides which, the article claims that Spice owes Narain a significant sum of money.

We will keep our fingers crossed to see how this plays out.

Mallya is no stranger to controversy, neither is Narain. But the media has successfully orchastrated a death match between the two.

So here is what went down.

A few days ago, when asked about “An Indian driver driving for an Indian team” statement that Mallaya had made early in his F1 career, Mallya decided to conclude that neither Narain Karthikeyan nor Karun Chandok fit the bill.

In my F1 context, [Karthikeyan] doesn’t fit in,[Chandhok] is like my son, but I have not broken the professional rules of Force India F1 and announced in respect of Karun only because of my personal relationship.

In 2009, we are going to launch a comprehensive programme of driver identification and where we see youngsters with talent, Force India is going to pay all the way through to international karting, single-seater racing, GP2 and on to Formula One. I don’t think [Indian Motorsport Federation] FMSCI should concentrate on creating an F1 driver. FMSCI should concentrate on broad basing motorsports in this country. [Making an] F1 driver is my job as Force India F1.

While Karun happens to be Mallya’s friend, we do not expect him to make a statement, but Narain decided to. And in the process spilled a few beans and I’m sure connected a few punches.

I spent a frustrating time with Jordan, where I had a car that just could not perform. I have no desire to be with another pedestrian team that’s low on performance and loud on talk, I never even approached Mallya. The vibes from the camp have been extremely negative and I want to make it clear that I am not interested in driving for Force India.

Spyker offered me a drive in August 2007. I declined as the team was going nowhere, Except in F1, where machine matters more than man, I have won races in every championship that I have participated in.

Asked for his response to Karthikeyan’s comments, Mallya said: “Everyone is welcome to their views.”

And to help prove that Mallya is still a rookie, a few F1 experts sounded off on the issue (HT has the entire article).

Emerson Fittipaldi was on Narain’s side, saying

I disagree with the statement. A non-grand prix driver cannot give an opinion as to a driver’s abilities. When Narain drove in F1, he did not have a competitive chassis or technical package. He’s capable of winning GPs in a good car.

And big Berie was supporting Karun

The time is getting closer for F1 to be in India, which is something I am really enthusiastic about, and hopefully Karun will be part of it. His place is in F1.

And Narain’s former team mate Tiago Monteiro, who has in the past not had the kindest words for Narain, chimed in, albeit in a different tone

F1 is all about the car you are given. Give Narain a race-winning car and he will win races I can guarantee you

Bruno Senna supported Karun and Peter Windsor, the Ex Williams Manager did not have the kindest words for Mallya.

It’s amusing when people who have made a lot of money come to F1 and make such ridiculous statements. It makes one wonder how they ever made that money! There is absolutely no question that Karun has the ability to do well. He is at least as good as Adrian Sutil (present Force India driver).

And the icing on the cake for Narain, James Roberts from F1 Racing magazine

Narain was abnormally brave in his ability to stay committed in high-speed corners in that Jordan car. Over one lap he may actually be even quicker than (Giancarlo) Fisichella (present Force India number one driver). Karun is a great talent. I am surprised at what Mallya has said.

So will all the pundits, including bloggers like me taking the side of Narain and Karun, I can tell you that as it stands the Score is Narain / Karun 1 – Mallya 0.

What do you guys think?

And I can’t wait for Mallya to make a statement regarding this.

Narain Karthikeyan might not be racing in F1 anymore, but he still is very popular in India, according to this article by Rediff.

He spoke about a lot of things, but his answer to the most important question, his return to F1 had a very terse response.

Now that Vijay Mallya’s [Images] Force India has severed ties with Ferrari — opting for McLaren instead — does it mean a return to F1 for India’s only driver with that experience? Has he had talks with Force India regarding a comeback?

“No,” said Narain, a one-word answer, sans any explanation, but with enough scope to read between the lines.

But that is Narain Karthikeyan for you — a man of few words, always at his diplomatic best. And lest we forget, he continues to be a show-stopper.

Narain seems to be in the news a lot these days, maybe that will convince Mallya to give him a shot. I know I can’t stop rooting for him.

For any racer, Formula One is a big thing and I am no exception. I have been working hard with the A1 team and thoroughly enjoying it but F1 is my ultimate dream, When I was with Jordan, the aim would
be to out-do your teammate. You have to be with bigger teams to get podium finishes.

He also spoke about missing the first race of the A1GP, because the Team India car was not delivered.

A good performance there would have given us momentum, But I feel they should declare it as a non-championship race

But he went back to speaking about F1

It was quite cool. That was the first time the car was tested and we finished first! The result gave us a huge boost for the rest of the weekend. There is a dramatic jump in the downforce level of the car. With this engine, the car feels more like a Formula One car from the 2004-05 season.

Only if things were easier.

In the high profile game of F1, for that matter with any professional sport, its always WYSIWYG as far as the athelete goes, nothing more nothing less. Well unless they write a biography or if they are a party animal, who loves to go cross country skiing a week before the season starts (hint Ferrari’s Finnish driver), you never get to read about their exploits off the track or off the field. But here is a golden nugget about Narain.

Then there was Narain Karthikeyan and the great SARS scare. It’s fair to say that Narain has always been a bit of a worrier and a lot of a hypochondriac, but he wasn’t well that weekend and eventually decided that he wanted to go home to his Mum back in India. He therefore left Macau – or at least tried to. It wasn’t long before news of what had happened started to filter back however. Needless to say, given his record, most of us were unkindly amused when it turned out that he’s triggered the SARS alarms at the ferry terminal and was instantly surrounded by bio-hazard suited officials, bundled into an ambulance and carted away. It turned out to be dengue fever so at least he was right that he did have something wrong with him. Narain actually was mightily quick round Macau, but he’d got this awful habit of crashing at Maternity Bend. There were suggestions it should be renamed Narain Bend after he’d pulled the same stunt three years out of three.