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 Karthikeyan Unplugged. - Über Desi

Mallya reiterated at the deal’s announcement that the team does not intend “at present” to change its current line-up of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and Germany’s Adrian Sutil.

However the billionaire businessman did not rule out the prospect that other candidates might be tested for the two race seats.

“They (McLaren) will recommend what they believe to be in the best interests of my team and I have to decide. And I would be hard pressed to ignore their advice,” Mallya said.

“The first thing is building the car. If we don’t have a car then there’s no point having a driver…It’s already pushing the envelope a little bit, so we need to focus on the car. The driver comes next and we will have these conversations.”

But going back to the drivers, Mallya made it clear that winning was the only thing on his mind and he would do whatever it takes.

“I haven’t gone into any details on drivers yet,” said Mallya, who in the past week has ousted former team principal Colin Kolles and technical head Mike Gascoyne while also terminating Force India’s supply of Ferrari engines.

“I have taken some very hard decisions in the last week for this team. My interest is this team and it has to go where I want it to go.

“I am going to do whatever it takes. There are no emotions involved.”

At the other end of the deal, McLaren were not shy to re-iterate the fact that they will be pushing for their drivers to occupy the Force India seats. With the appointment of Simor Roberts, a McLaren veteran who will move into the Chief Operating Officer post at Force India, this seems very possible.

“There’s nothing off-bounds in this partnership,” McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh said, when asked about drivers.

“We will make proposals and recommendations that we think are enhancing the prospect of good performance from this team.

“I suspect he (Mallya) has some staggering business commitments outside of Formula One and he would expect us, as specialists and professionals in this field, to be making all of the recommendations that are necessary to ensure that we go forward.”

The drivers being talked about right now are Perdo de la Rosa, McLaren’s permanent tester and Gary Paffet who shares the responsibilities with the Spaniard and Scot Paul di Resta, who has tested for McLaren before.

While this might stand in the way of Indian drivers getting a default seat in Force India, this might work in favor of both partners. Mallya gets more than just the drive train from Mercedes, Mercedes can use this opportunity to market their products in India and McLaren will essentially have a B team to test their drive train. F1 has always been about data, with more data McLaren will certainly do better.

In the meanwhile we are also following Chandok to see if he gets a test in the already overcrowded paddocks of F1.

Force India to become McLaren’s B team, Almost. - Über Desi

With an amazing season coming to an end, the F1 circus, Renault in particular, took a detour to India before heading home.

The road show of the F1 team, sponsored by ING Vysya, will have a spectacular display of the 2007 Renault F1 cars driving down the Rajpath. The show will comprise stunts by professional drivers on Renault Megane Trophy cars, the Toon cars and the display of their Logan cars.

Delhi GP delayed by a year

Meanwhile, Delhi’s GP has been delayed by a year [Tip F1 Fan]. There is no official word on why the GP has been delayed by a year, up until the announcement, Mallya was convinced that the 2010 time line was realistic. The other problem with the GP also seems to be internal politics. With the Indian Olympics Committee originally set to handle the entire event, another private firm seems to have taken the lead role, while news still trickles out of IOC.

India’s date with Formula One racing is delayed by another year, to 2011, Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi said on Thursday but refused to give any reason for it.

Management Changes at Force India F1

In related news, Force India F1 have parted ways with Mike Gascoyne and team boss Colin Kolles. It looks like Vijay Mallya will play a bigger role in next years operations. For those who care to remember, Gascoyne was the brain behind the Toyota team and helped design their car up until he moved to Force India. A new technical director, according to Mallya will be named shortly.

In a statement, Mallya said

Force India is my most difficult project to date and it has become clear that it requires more direct input from my side and greater performance accountability, We have come a long way this season, but we need more and that requires some radical reorganisation of the management structure to ensure the maximum productivity. I would like to thank Colin Kolles for his tireless efforts in keeping such a small team alive and to Mike Gascoyne for bringing his wealth of technical expertise. Both have played an instrumental part in making the team what it is today.

On Monday November 10th, I will announce the new technical direction of the team as well as the appointment of a new Chief Operating Officer who will assume overall responsibility for our Silverstone and Brackley facilities, Race and Test operations.

For the Indian fans, this gives a very small opening for Narain Karthikeyan to get into Force India. Karthikeyan did not have a great relationship with Kolles and this was public knowledge. When Karthikeyan did not get picked, even as a test driver for Force India, rumors were circulating on the web that it was Kolles who was blocking Narain’s return to F1. This should no longer be the problem.

Team India scores first point in Chinese round of A1GP

Speaking of Karthikeyan, Team India managed to secure their first point in the 08-09 A1GP season at the race in China. With the construction of cars being delayed, Team India was one of few outfits that did not participate in the season opener. This gave Narain additional time to run in the rookie practice session and he managed to top the time sheets, however when it came to race pace, it looks like the Indian team has more work to do. However, banking a point in the “first” race of the season is better than coming home empty handed.

Force India, splits with Ferrari, picks McLaren for next year’s engine.

Updating our earlier story Force India have officially parted ways with Ferrari. Instead of picking the Italian engine and KERS system, they have opted to move to a Mercedes powerplant.

With huge changes in the pipeline for Force Indian, including the reported signing of a technical deal with McLaren that will see the backmarker outfit supplied with engine, gearbox and the new KERS from the Championship-winning team, Mallya has implimented a management reshuffle.

With so much happening, I lost track of Naren Kumar and his WRC results. Does anyone have any updates on that?

Desi motorsport roundup. - Über Desi

So it was indeed a pleasant surprise to hear today that Force India is going to tie in with Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (a team that counts this blogger as one of it die-hard fans, through thick and thin) to use McLaren’s cars (via Autoblog). Incidentally, Force India’s cars are currently powered by Ferrari customer engines.

What is interesting is that Force India, whose cars have often been two seconds or more off the pace, is switching from one front runner to another. While Ferrari won both the Constructors and the Drivers Championship last year thanks to some arguably dubious decision by the FIA, their Drivers title hopes this year have been hampered by some silly work by their drivers and their otherwise brilliant pit crew. On the other hand the Silver Arrows, a perennial front runner for the most part of the last two decades and a team that recently celebrated 40 years of winning in Formula One, have been charging ahead this year. Lewis Hamilton is comfortably placed to win the fight for the Drivers championship, but the race is as close as it is only because of the rampant behind-the-scenes skulduggery by the mad hatters otherwise known as the FIA.

However, the deal is currently tentative, since Formula One has deemed that customer engines/cars are objectionable and has decreed that come 2010, teams such as Force India must build their own chassis and engines, rather than sourcing from teams such as McLaren. Hence this development merits a close watch since it presents the thought that, that with cost cutting being the new mantra in Formula One, technology sharing is perhaps the way to go.

And the avid F1 watchers here at UD will keep you all in the know. Watch this space for more.

Force India ties up with McLaren - Über Desi

A few days ago, I wrote about why Karun should not take the tester role at Force India F1 and he agrees.

It’s nice to hear that he would like me to be involved in the team and from a patriotic and emotional angle, that’s great. But at the end of the day, races and careers have to be tackled using head and not heart, I would love to test with a top team and I am in discussion with some of the teams further up the field, apart from Force India,” he said.

Chandok says thanks, but no thanks. - Über Desi

Force India boss Vijay Mallya has indicated that his Silverstone-based team will not be changing their line-up ahead of next season but an earlier promise by Mallya that by 2009 the team would field a countryman could yet be honoured.

While Karthikeyan is keeping his silence, personally I think Karun Chandok has a way better shot. He is in the GP2 series, which happens to be the feeder series for F1 and he has been performing pretty well. His team iSport international is currently leading the team score and his sponsor Red Bull racings junior team has at least one seat available for next year.

Karthikeyan or Chandok? What do you guys think?

Karthikeyan could be back - The F1 silly season has begun - Über Desi

As happy as I was to seeing another Indian face in the paddock, I was intrigued by who this man was. The regular readers and friends know that F1 is the only sport I really care about and Schumacher is one of my all time favorite driver and the Scuderia being my choice of team. The fact that I knew nothing about this guru, who apparently was very close to Schumi, made me search and I had to share this with you.

To start… I had to look for how Balbir met Schumi and the answer was on the Force India website.

Born in the Punjab, but a long time resident of Germany, Singh had no connections with motor sport when a chance encounter led him to meeting Schumacher. Having just left Benetton, the then double World Champion was searching for a physio to work with him at Ferrari.

‘I was working in a hospital and I had a contact through his uncle,’ says Balbir. ‘He was coming to me, and one day he said, ‘Hey, Michael is looking for somebody.’ This was November 1995, and Michael was starting testing with Ferrari with white overalls.

‘There were another few guys before me who probably didn’t fit him, but I had never worked in motor sport before. I met him and I was supposed to stay with him for four days in Paul Ricard. I took a one week holiday and went there. After four days Michael said to me, ‘How many days did you take for your holiday?’ ‘One week.’ He said, ‘Can you stay Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then I can send you home?’ I said, ‘OK.’ So Saturday I went back and the week after he called me and said, ‘I’ve decided, we have to work together.’

‘I said, ‘I have my contract here, I can’t just leave my patients…’ He said, ‘No worries, you just give me the person, and we can fix it up.’ So a week later my boss said ‘You’re free!’

‘I don’t know what happened, but somebody called my boss. He said, ‘Pack up your stuff, you can go.’ I thought I would go for one or two years, I never thought it would be 10 years…’

And if you thought Balbir was another one of the guys on the team, you are wrong. A 1998 article from Atlas F1, now Autosport, discusses Michael’s dedication. Titled “The loneliness of a long distance driver” the article has an important paragraph about how close Balbir was to the F1 super star.

He (Schumacher) sleeps there in the most modest surroundings - a bed, a sofa, a chest of drawers and a sports-bag with very few clothes. The only human companionship he has is his physio-therapist Balbir Singh, sleeping next door. They share a toilet and a shower, but hardly share a conversation; Schumacher is seldom alone, but often very lonely.

And then I had to go looking for what Michael thought about Balbir leaving, and thanks to google I did.

Balbir is one of the few men that I could and can trust 150 percent,” the seven times champion told Germany’s Bild newspaper on Thursday.

“The split will hurt me. I will miss him. I must simply accept that he wants to build a new future,” added Schumacher, 36, who insisted earlier this week that he was not thinking of quitting despite his poor start to the season.

The Ferrari driver’s spokeswoman said the two would remain close friends.

“He is one of the closest people to Michael,” she said. “It’s been 10 years now and at one point he just said I have to care about my family more.”

Dubbed Schumacher’s ‘wonder-guru’ by Bild, Singh’s behind-the-scenes role has been far more than massaging away the aches and pains of racing. He also keeps an eye on what the driver eats, calms him down and acts as a confidant.

“He has something in his hands that no-one else has,” said Schumacher, a distant eighth in the championship with just 16 points after seven races.

So it’s no wonder that when Balbir, who spent his time off working with Dakar rally, had a special visitor at the Force India motor home.

To think that one of the greatest drivers ever, had an Indian by his side at the peak of his career sends chills down my spine. I just wish I were more attentive when the champ was still racing.

Who is Balbir Singh? In search of Schumis ex Guru. - Über Desi

‘Guru’ Balbir Singh and Fisichella
img: via F1-live.com

Balbir Singh, physiotherapist and spiritual guru of the erstwhile F1 champion and legend is all set to make a comeback to bigtime F1 racing, after “retiring” in 2005.

Michael Schumacher’s former physiotherapist and ‘guru’ Balbir Singh has made a surprise and full-time return to the Formula One paddock. The Indian - revered by former seven time world champion Schumacher as F1’s best physio, masseuse, dietician and ’spiritual guide’ - left the sport at the end of 2005 to spend more time with his German wife and children and set up a meditation business.

What kind of an Indian guru has a German “shishya” and a German wife? Surely this is against “Indian culture”. Lets commence with effigy burnings.

Significantly but not surprising, Singh has chosen with make his comeback with the first Indian-owned team in F1 history.

But Singh is back in the paddock at Hockenheim this weekend - wearing a uniform of the Indian-owned team Force India. The German newspaper Express reveals that Singh is team driver Giancarlo Fisichella’s new physio.

The Race Guru - Über Desi

Just over an hour ago, the desi presence in Formula 1, Force India, found this the hard way. Just over 10 minutes to go before the clock ticked to zero (there is a 2 hour limit on the duration of every F1 race, in addition to the lap limit) at Monaco and because of a few DNFs plus the timely appearance of the safety car, Force India driver Adrian Sutil was running in the points. With time only left for about 7 laps, Sutil’s radio went alive and the team informed him that he was running in P4 and his only threat was current world champion Raikonnen. The implication of the message was probably “dude, you are doing just fine. Come home now in one piece and get us the points”.

Now, you can’t fault Force India’s principals heaving a premature sigh of relief with a few laps to go. At least not this weekend. Sutil was having a perfect race, starting from 18th but moving into points by the end of the 15th lap, as weather caused a number of other drivers to shunt and his 4th place finish was almost secure when he joined behind the safety car with less than 20 minutes to go. With Monaco being Monaco, it is very very common to see a car hold a position between pit stops (sometimes even from start to finish) unless the driver does something stupid, or unless the person behind does something stupid.

Sadly, in Sutil’s case, it would be the latter, though Raikkonen could disagree. When the safety car screamed back into the pits with time left for just around 3 laps, Raikkonen lost control of his Ferrari at the exit of the famous Monaco tunnel^* and clipped the back of Sutil’s Force India car losing his front wing in the process. Both cars immediately pitted (surprising the commentary team, since Sutil seemed to have gotten out cleanly). Raikkonen got out with a new wing losing just a couple of seconds(and finished 11th, just outside the points), but for Sutil the afternoon just got longer.

What was initially thought to be a precautionary stop (though i am thinking he was well outside the points by then, considering at least four cars had gone by the time he was up in the jacks), turned out to be a nightmare come true. After one look at the back end of his car, Sutil’s mechanics threw their hands up in despair.

Sutil was understandably disconsolate (link).

“It’s a really a shame, we were really close,” Sutil told UK broadcaster ITV. “Then Kimi crashed into my rear and destroyed my whole race. It was the best race of my whole career and it is really a shame - I can’t say any more about it. I am so really disappointed.”

Force India’s website also says that, after the race, Sutil accompanied CTO Mike Gascoyne to officially complain about Raikkonen’s actions, though it seemed fairly obvious that it was a racing accident brought about by the wet track and a small bump on the track at the exit of the tunnel.

And after a perfect race for Sutil, Force India was left shaking its head in disappointment at not only the loss of points, but the potential loss of millions of dollars of TV money that F1 disburses to its teams on the basis of points scored.

So, the wait continues…

* Incidentally almost at the same spot as James Garner’s shunt in the movie Grand Prix

It ain’t over… - Über Desi

Namaste Patel. Hope all is well with you and I hope bhabi is doing well too.

I know I have not written to you, but I hope you understand that with my new commitment of flying around the world, motivating an old driver, who with a beard will look like my grandfather and giving so many press conferences, writing is going to be so difficult.

Do not tell anyone, but I hate this F1 business yaar. I spend millions of dollars, put my name up and some idiot from Germany, high on Red Bull (It is that energy drink like our Rasna and they give it for free na, so they drink it like its water) crashed into one of my cars. I thought for sure that we have to get a new car, but the mechanics say that we can use super glue to fix it. I said no way, we only use Fevicol.

These Red Bull people should not even be allowed to drive on regular roads. I tell you yaar, my driver Karamchand, he can do better job, And he only gets paid $200 a month. If you don’t believe me, you should hear that other Red Bull driver talk. He is as old as me and he does not look into his mirror when he is driving. He thinks he is driving in Mumbai, what an idiot. And crashes into a Ferrari and then says dirty words to the Ferrari driver, a small boy. He looks like our Mahesh no? So small, I think that is why his car go so fast. After seeing him, I told Fisi, he only eat phulka and chicken vindaloo. Look how thin I became. I also told him, if he wants to drink, I will make him special Kingfisher Diet beer, but he is from Rome, they no listen.

Then he argues with me that all roads leads to Rome, I tell him no baba, this road leads to Khandala, but whatever baba, as long as he can go around the track fast, I am happy.

I am also upset at my chief mechanic, I think I should replace him with Kadar Bhai, you know the guy who repairs my Mercedes. This mechanic did something and now the car has sudden fuel pressure problems. How come no problem during tests, now problem, he says, its racing it happens. Kadhar Bhai will do a better job, I know for sure. I just have to talk to Mol about this, but he does not care that much.

And all these idiots do not understand the concept of luck. I wanted to hang a lemon and chilli thing in front of the car and get my priest to do a pooja but this Gascoyne says it will be bad publicity and will affect aerodynamics. What aerodynamics, I say bloody god will come and push car if it breaks down, but no one will listen to me.

Anyway, hope my luck is better in the next race. We are going to Malaysia, so I asked my wife to send me some home cooked food and maybe I will sneak into the garage at night before the race and hang the lemon and not tell anyone about it.

Your Friend,

Mallya.

A letter to Patel from the Australian GP - Über Desi