This ‘Pakistani’ counts on support from India

Adam Khan is thrilled about joining the ING Renault Formula One team. “It is a real honour… a great opportunity and a privilege to be in the same team as double world champion Fernando Alonso,” he told DNA on the phone from the Renault team base in Enstone on Thursday.

The 23-year-old Adam, whose father is a Pakistani, has entered Formula One as a lead demonstration/test driver for the French team this year. The interesting thing about Adam is that, besides people from Pakistan, he will be counting on support from India.

“My mum was born in India,” said the former A1GP Pakistan driver who himself was born in Yorkshire, England.

And it’s not only Adam who is counting on support from Asia. He feels F1’s future is in Asia. “It is quite apparent that there is a shift of trend from Europe to Asia. The European market has now reached a saturation point and Asia is the next big thing for Formula One,” he remarked.

Though Adam has never visited India (his mother keeps visiting the country frequently), he would love to drive on the streets of New Delhi, similar to the demonstrations that were organised by Renault couple of months back. “Coming to India would be a fantastic experience,” he said.

Even though he hasn’t raced in India, he knows the most famous Indian driver pretty well. “I have known Narain (Karthikeyan) for a number of years. He is a nice person. In fact, when we first met, he mentioned about having known about me and having followed my career.”

Adam loved racing against Narain in A1GP. When asked whether his battle with Narain was as fierce as the India-Pakistan rivalry in cricket matches, Adam said that he hardly followed cricket.

“I cannot give a cricket analogy. But it wasn’t a personal ‘I-have-to-beat-Team-India’ kind of rivalry. In fact, while racing, I compete against everyone and not one team,” he said.

Adam, who has been rated highly by F1 veteran Eddie Jordan, is satisfied with the progress he has made so far.

“I am aiming quite high and right now I am in a good position. I haven’t set any specific target on becoming the lead driver. I hope some opportunity will open up soon,” he said. When asked about his favourite F1 driver, he instantly replied, “Fernando Alonso. I was too young to have been a fan of Nigel Mansell or Ayrton Senna. Alonso is a brilliant driver and his record speaks for itself. Also, since I speak Spanish and have raced in Spain, I am inclined towards the country.”

So what does he think of Eddie Jordan’s comment about Adam being a potential world champion? “I hope he is right,” Adam said.