Karthikeyan dodges Force India question

(GMM) Narain Karthikeyan, who three years ago became the first Indian to race in formula one, has declined to answer speculation he may soon be on his way back to the grid.

Force India supremo Vijay Mallya has hinted the Silverstone based team will not move away from its current lineup, featuring Giancarlo Fisichella alongside Adrian Sutil, ahead of the 2009 season.

But there is still a theoretical chance that Indian billionaire Mallya will still honour his promise last year that – by 2009 – Force India is "certain" to house a countryman.

31-year-old Karthikeyan, who races for India in the A1GP series and was recently a Williams test driver, and GP2 competitor Karun Chandhok, would presumably be in pole position for a Force India vacancy.

But when asked by the Newsindpress on Sunday about his chances, he said: "In Indian owning an F1 team is no ordinary feat. Vijay Mallya has done a great job. And only he can answer the question."

Mallya told F1's official website last week that he is "quite happy" with his team's current lineup.