Montreal: Under-fire Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan admitted on Saturday that he has been angered by criticism from Jordan boss Colin Kolles (who has taken charge, with sporting director Trevor Carlin having quit before this GP week) and revealed the two are barely speaking after a recent dispute.
Kolles said on Friday that he was forced to have a word with Narain after being disappointed by the driver’s performances in the last two races ?Monaco and Nuerburgring.
As he prepared for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, Narain said: “I don’t know what he is complaining about. The first five races I did well, and you are bound to have some bad races.
“Colin must also realise that this car is really bad and it is easy to make mistakes, so they should try to improve the car also. There is no point just complaining.
“He doesn’t speak to me very much any more, so that is a good thing. He thinks if he is very direct (in his criticism) it helps, but sometimes it doesn’t, so it’s good and bad.
“I was not upset, you come across a lot of things like this in Formula One so it doesn’t matter. (We get on) okay, but not like we did a month ago. He is just management, so I really don’t have to have a conversation with him.”
Jordan, who are running a development of their 2004 car, are yet to score a point.
The team will bring in a new car for the French Grand Prix at the start of July, but with Renault keen to put Frenchman Franck Montagny in the car for his home race, Narain could even face a spell on the sidelines.
Kolles confirmed that he would be happy to bring back Montagny, who tested for the team at the Nuerburgring, but it is understood that his role would only be as a test and reserve driver and Narain would continue to race.
But Narain admitted he is already looking for a new place to drive next year and said: “Right now I’ll just do my job and at the end of the year find a different place. If the car is not good here, I’ll try to do a good job with what I have, and obviously I want to be driving for a better team because a lot of things are, kind of, confused at the moment.
“They don’t know what kind of car there will be next year and everything, but once that becomes clear it will be easier for everyone working for the team to know the direction in which it is heading.”
The team has had to cope with the departure of sporting director Carlin, believed to be another victim of Kolles’ firm management style. Narain said: “I don’t care what happens? I will try my best for Sunday.”
(AFP)
