Dec.17 (GMM) Even with their nationality in common, Vijay Mallya has ruled out reviving the F1 career of the Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan
Karthikeyan, now 31, became the first Indian to contest grands prix with Jordan in 2005, and after a spell as Williams test driver now drives in the A1 series
But despite perpetual speculation linking him with Mallya’s Force India team, the billionaire told the Asian Age that Karthikeyan “is not meeting (the) criteria”
“In my F1 context, Narain doesn’t fit in,” he added
Another Indian racer Karun Chandhok has tested F1 cars and in 2008 raced in the second-tier GP2 category, but despite their closeness “I have not let my personal relationship come in between”, Mallya said
“Only the lack of suitable replacements has forced (us) to retain the same team for 2009. The normally expected GP2 graduation didn’t happen this time,” he explained
Mallya also confirmed that team chiefs Colin Kolles and Mike Gascoyne were recently ousted because they failed to meet their targets
“We had a review meeting to see what went wrong. We were given certain assurances that didn’t happen
“So we had no other choice other than revamping the think tank by sacking (them),” he said
