Narain Karthikeyan

How do you prepare for a race weekend?

Formula one is a bit different. You don’t prepare for a race, you prepare for the whole year basically. It’s important to reach a circuit early because you have jetlag to contend with. It’s best to get in settled in quickly and then you have to sort out your nutrition, your sleeping pattern before you hit the track. That’s basically how every weekend goes.

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Any particular relaxation technique - like listening to a particular kind of music?

I listen to everything and anything. Even when you are in the gym doing your stretches and everything, your physio is with you. There’s sports therapy and stuff. So that’s enough to relax you. Of course there’s nervous energy because you want to do well. It’s a lot of pressure, I can tell you that.

Recall your best day at the track.

All the days that I have won a race! When you are dominant and win a race like that, it’s a special moment.

Qualifying requires a different mindset from racing. What goes on in a driver’s head while he’s on the ‘flying lap’?

Getting the maximum out of the car and pushing it to the limit. That’s what you keep thinking. That’s what you want. Driving a car with a low-fuel load and brand new tyres is an unbelievable feeling. You get great grip and when you do a good lap, you feel awesome. You have to be very focused and go all out. You make a small mistake and that’s it.

Do drivers indulge in trash talking?

Never. Nobody talks to each other so the question doesn’t even arise. There’s joking alright but it never reaches the teasing stage.

Are you active on Facebook and Twitter?

I’ve been pretty active on Twitter but I’ll need some time to figure out Facebook. I’ve just created a profile. I don’t even know to log on! My wife joined Facebook and she wanted me on it too. I don’t like or dislike these things. Everyone else is on it; it’s there so I also joined in. Now since so many people are following me, it’s a good way to keep them updated. I tweet maximum once a day.

Do play racing games at all?

None of that for me. Once you do the real thing everything else is crap.

If not a racing driver, what other profession do you think you would have joined?

I never thought about it. It’s very difficult to say really. Being a Formula 1 driver is a unique job. I would struggle to do anything else.

How much time do you spend on deciding what to wear?

I like funky clothes as long as they are decent. I wouldn’t wear colours like parrot green, yellow or pink. Ever. My yellow race suit for Jordan was an exception but I never liked it much.

Movies or music?

Movies. I watch everything because I’m travelling so much. The last movie I really enjoyed was Inception and that’s pretty much what my life is right now - a dream.

You have been spending quite some time in the kitchen recently. What do you cook well?

Yeah, yeah. I had to. When we were in America, the last couple of months, both my wife and I, would experiment in the kitchen so that we could eat healthy stuff because even though American food is tasty, it’s really fattening. I can cook everything from pasta to chicken curry to barbeque. I don’t particularly enjoy cooking. I cook to survive and eat healthy.

Most hilarious prank that you’ve ever played.

I love playing pranks. I am a prank person. But most of these pranks can’t be spoken about in public (laughs). I think once we were late for a flight and I put the blame on Yohann Setna (NR racing manager). I was late but I made everyone believe he was to blame.

Which circuit has the best food and the hottest?

I think the Indian Grand Prix will have the best spread. All the F1 races have hot girls, no matter which corner of the world you are in. That’s why I love this job (chuckles).

One thing that reduces you to tears every time.

Rape seed flowers. In Europe, they are everywhere. My eyes get swollen. I sneeze a million times. They rape my eyes!

One recurring dream.

I don’t dream too because dreams never come true. I have dreamt of crashing the car or doing something or the other. I’m sure I used to dream of winning races.

Five cars that you want in your garage.

First up, the XKR Jaguar. The Porsche 911 GT2 is an amazing car. The Nissan GT-R, the McLaren F1 and probably, the Nano. Seriously. The Tatas have actually made a cute little car. It’s not that bad to drive.

One year that you wished you had been in Formula One.

Probably the year I started following Formula One, 1989.

When you made your F1 debut, did you ever imagine that one-day you could be on the grid of the Indian Grand Prix?

I honestly have had that feeling since 1999 when I was driving in Formula Three. I knew that one day there will be an Indian GP and I will be racing. I always had a strong feeling about it.

From the February 2011 issue of FHM India.