Karthikeyan: The 30 Million Myth

[cavallino 2]

I am sick of seeing this figure being thrown around by people in their ignorance. As far as I can make out the figure emerged after F1-live.com posted a news story saying that Karthikeyan is 'rumoured' to have paid 30 million dollars for his drive. That figure is ridiculous. It would total to about a 1.35 billion Indian rupees. That is far beyond any amount an indian company doing most of its business in indian currency would pay. The most credible information about how much money he paid is about 7 million dollars or 5 million pounds. That is also a pretty massive amount by indian standards, but I think the Indian corporations would just about have recouped it due the the initial high interest in him in India. That is certainly not going to last another year.

This is almost certainly his only year in F1. He definitely does not deserve a non pay drive on merit, and he does not fit into the sponsored driver plans of Red Bull or Midland. He has not done any worse than other rookies this year, and will go away like many pay drivers before him. Arguably he is better than some of the pay drivers that have passed by before him, like Zsolt Baumgartner or Alex Yoong. He came in with the tag of being quick but erratic, and has more or less lived upto it. He has been far less lucky than his teammate in terms of technical problems in the season, which will leave him with a record inferior to his teammate.

In any case he will go down as a pay driver who paid as much as other pay drivers to get a drive and did not make enough of an impact on the sport to give him another drive. Let us leave it at that, instead of throwing the 30 million figure around to try and separate him from other pay drivers in F1 of whom there have been many.

Edit: some links for the possible figure he paid

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=64118

Narain will pay Jordan between Rs 20 to 30 crore(i.e. 200 - 300 million rupees or 7 million dollars) to race in 2005.

http://www.tata.com/0_about_us/brand_ambas...ia/20050211.htm

His seat is worth approximately 6 million pounds and was available to any who could find the money.

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=81621

this should make everyone shut up! in this article narain regularly writes on indian express he claims that the price tag of the seat at midland has increased to 10 million euroes considerably higher compared to last year!!!!! in another article he had also said that albers came up with that kind of money but i am not posting it here bcoz it is irrelavent to this topic (and to me)

[deep_tokyo 0]

I am sick of seeing this figure being thrown around by people in their ignorance. As far as I can make out the figure emerged after F1-live.com posted a news story saying that Karthikeyan is 'rumoured' to have paid 30 million dollars for his drive. That figure is ridiculous. It would total to about a 1.35 billion Indian rupees. That is far beyond any amount an indian company doing most of its business in indian currency would pay. The most credible information about how much money he paid is about 7 million dollars or 5 million pounds. That is also a pretty massive amount by indian standards, but I think the Indian corporations would just about have recouped it due the the initial high interest in him in India. That is certainly not going to last another year.

This is almost certainly his only year in F1. He definitely does not deserve a non pay drive on merit, and he does not fit into the sponsored driver plans of Red Bull or Midland. He has not done any worse than other rookies this year, and will go away like many pay drivers before him. Arguably he is better than some of the pay drivers that have passed by before him, like Zsolt Baumgartner or Alex Yoong. He came in with the tag of being quick but erratic, and has more or less lived upto it. He has been far less lucky than his teammate in terms of technical problems in the season, which will leave him with a record inferior to his teammate.

In any case he will go down as a pay driver who paid as much as other pay drivers to get a drive and did not make enough of an impact on the sport to give him another drive. Let us leave it at that, instead of throwing the 30 million figure around to try and separate him from other pay drivers in F1 of whom there have been many.

Edit: some links for the possible figure he paid

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=64118

Yeah it was 5 million Euros. I am not sure he will be out of F1 this year as he has a contract clause to drive for Midland in 2006 if he wants. But most probably will see him in a testing role with a big team in 2006.

[KoolMonkey 0]

Well think of it this way. Monteiro has done better than the Indian this year as far as results go. Midland (what an utterly boring and dull name) want Davidson for 2006. So whose gonna be left out? Prob the Indian. Now I rem reading something a few months back saying they (NK and his manager) were looking at their options and wouldn't turn down a testing role.

Whether Monteiro drives for Midland in 2006 is anyones guess. I can't see any other teams picking him up but who knows, F1 isn't logical when it comes to driver selections.

[Shadow 0]

they are also interested in Albers. enough said.

[nojvnof1 0]

I think we may see Albers and Davidson at Midland in '06 with possibly either one of the current drivers being Friday test driver

[deep_tokyo 0]

I think we may see Albers and Davidson at Midland in '06 with possibly either one of the current drivers being Friday test driver

Most probably Midland will opt for one pay driver and one regular driver nxt year. They are still not willing to invest what it needs to be a top end team or less, even a middle of the grid team. Even the Davidson tests didnot go that very well. So we may see one of the current drivers in the team and probably one new.

[Shadow 0]

I think we may see Albers and Davidson at Midland in '06 with possibly either one of the current drivers being Friday test driver

in that case i think it is likely to be Monterio

[Taku 0]

i hope davidson can get the williams seat instead, now that button is staying at bar.

I am sick of seeing this figure being thrown around by people in their ignorance. As far as I can make out the figure emerged after F1-live.com posted a news story saying that Karthikeyan is 'rumoured' to have paid 30 million dollars for his drive. That figure is ridiculous. It would total to about a 1.35 billion Indian rupees. That is far beyond any amount an indian company doing most of its business in indian currency would pay. The most credible information about how much money he paid is about 7 million dollars or 5 million pounds. That is also a pretty massive amount by indian standards, but I think the Indian corporations would just about have recouped it due the the initial high interest in him in India. That is certainly not going to last another year.

This is almost certainly his only year in F1. He definitely does not deserve a non pay drive on merit, and he does not fit into the sponsored driver plans of Red Bull or Midland. He has not done any worse than other rookies this year, and will go away like many pay drivers before him. Arguably he is better than some of the pay drivers that have passed by before him, like Zsolt Baumgartner or Alex Yoong. He came in with the tag of being quick but erratic, and has more or less lived upto it. He has been far less lucky than his teammate in terms of technical problems in the season, which will leave him with a record inferior to his teammate.

In any case he will go down as a pay driver who paid as much as other pay drivers to get a drive and did not make enough of an impact on the sport to give him another drive. Let us leave it at that, instead of throwing the 30 million figure around to try and separate him from other pay drivers in F1 of whom there have been many.

Edit: some links for the possible figure he paid

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=64118

i was always sceptical about the 30mill. 7 mill sounds more realistic.

[Null 0]

i think (and hope that) nico will get the williams seat.

[Senna 0]

I

[cavallino 2]

This may be exaggerated but I quoted credible sources and trust their research.

Which sources do you quote? and why would they pay 4-5 times the going market rate for pay drivers, even really bad ones. He was close to a Minardi deal 2 years ago but could not come up with the cash. He probably could have had a minardi deal this year too but maybe he thought Jordan was a better, with Trevor Carlin there.

anyway come up with a credible source first. I have seen the F1-live article, there are many sources that claim otherwise.

Surely if Minardi were willing to take him 2 years ago for 5-7 million they would have taken him for 10 million this year. Surely the disparity between Monteiro's and Karthikeyan's pervious record was not huge enough to justify that kind of difference.

edit: Senna hear this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/sport_web...959_16x9_bb.asx

And if they were paying 30 million why didnt they just buy Minardi and put 2 indian drivers in it.

[nojvnof1 0]

i think (and hope that) nico will get the williams seat.

as do I.

[mock 0]

Well think of it this way. Monteiro has done better than the Indian this year as far as results go.

This is an incorrect statement.

I have at least four expert sources which say that NK is better than TM

1) planetf1.com - war of the team mates, NK leads Monteiro 9 - 6 for the season

2) paddocktalk.com - "NK is probably the better of the two drivers"

3) http://formula-1.updatesport.com/ - The best way to judge drivers is traditionally by their qualifying results and not race results - NK leads TM

4) Commentators on ESPN star sports - "NK is fast and has superb car control" - "Monteiro looks more calm and composed around the circuit because he is driving slower"

The only place where I see NK trashed is on this forum.

NK has done better in his first year in Jordan than Nick Heidfeld did in his first year. The records prove it

[cavallino 2]

thats Bajo bait

[Senna 0]

Which sources do you quote? and why would they pay 4-5 times the going market rate for pay drivers, even really bad ones. He was close to a Minardi deal 2 years ago but could not come up with the cash. He probably could have had a minardi deal this year too but maybe he thought Jordan was a better, with Trevor Carlin there.

anyway come up with a credible source first. I have seen the F1-live article, there are many sources that claim otherwise.

Surely if Minardi were willing to take him 2 years ago for 5-7 million they would have taken him for 10 million this year. Surely the disparity between Monteiro's and Karthikeyan's pervious record was not huge enough to justify that kind of difference.

edit: Senna hear this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/sport_web...959_16x9_bb.asx

And if they were paying 30 million why didnt they just buy Minardi and put 2 indian drivers in it.

I posted several topics on this subject months ago which discussed the research of the various credible sources, which were all listed I might add. I will not go into this again, if you choose to dismiss these reports you are free to do so. Regardless of the exact sum of money involved, Narain

[Wez 0]

Clearly just another topic where cavallino tries to show us all that Karthikeyan isn't really the crapest driver we've seen in decades.

[Senna 0]

Clearly just another topic where cavallino tries to show us all that Karthikeyan isn't really the crapest driver we've seen in decades.

And cavallino

[CC 0]

There

[Senna 0]

There

[cavallino 2]

I posted several topics on this subject months ago which discussed the research of the various credible sources

I have seen your topics, the only source you quoted (indeed the only source to make that claim) was F1-live.com. I have quoted several sources, including an interview with Karthikeyan, a news article posted on the Tata website and an article from one of India's best newspapers. Unless you can come up with a credible source, due to your lack of another source, due to the sources I have quoted, and due to the ludicrous nature of the figure quoted for the reasons I gave above, I regard this debate as settled.

As for the debate about the merits of Karthikeyan, I have already responded to the points raised in numerous topics, and I will not repeat them here.

At the current exchange rate, 30m USD is 16m GBP. This sounds more reasonable does it not? It is however exactly the same value of money.

I fail to see how that is relevent. The figure in Indian rupees, 1.35 billion is far more relevent.

Another question, if his sponsors were willing to put up 30 million this year why did they not put up 5 million 2 years ago for a Minardi drive. The reasons for Karthikeyan to get an F1 drive have not changed since then, obvously not in any way to justify a 6 fold increase.

[CC 0]

At the current exchange rate, 30m USD is 16m GBP. This sounds more reasonable does it not? It is however exactly the same value of money.

I fail to see how that is relevent. The figure in Indian rupees, 1.35 billion is far more relevent.

Indeed.

[Senna 0]

You believe what you want. So will I and I am satisfied with the documentation that I have seen and remain unconvinced with the documentation which you have provided. Anyway, the exact nature of Karthikeyan

[cavallino 2]

It is far from immaterial because it has been used countless times by you and other posters to bolster your criticism of him, and is completely unfounded.

Anyway, the exact nature of Karthikeyan

[ecapdeville 0]

It is far from immaterial because it has been used countless times by you and other posters to bolster your criticism of him, and is completely unfounded.

But what are you talking about...money or lack of talent?

[Senna 0]

It is far from immaterial because it has been used countless times by you and other posters to bolster your criticism of him, and is completely unfounded.

ecap there you go

It is not unfounded. I believe the reports, you don