Pit stop issues cost Narain a podium finish

After a strong performance at the preceding round in Morocco the Indian had qualified on the front row and set a new lap record, expectations were high for the race, but the team was left to battle tyre, engine and pitstop issues throughout the weekend.

Narain Karthikeyan

Having suffered tyre overheating issues in qualifying, Narain could qualify no better than seventh but despite a great start, he fell back due to an engine misfire.

As a result he could only finish eighth in race one but had pole position for race two owing to the reversed grid format. Starting from pole, Narain led race two in the opening laps until tyre issues surfaced once again and he started struggling with rear grip.

The team decided to pit him but more bad luck was in store as a slow pitstop saw Narain dropping down the order. "There were a lot of issues so we were not quick enough," rued Narain.