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Narain Karthikeyan - Net Worth, Age, Height, Birthday, Bio, Wiki!

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Sophia Terry

Updated on March 01, 2026

Explore Narain Karthikeyan net worth, age, height, bio, birthday, wiki, and salary! He was the first Indian Formula One driver to debut in 2005. After racing pickup trucks in NASCAR, he was voted NASCAR’s most popular driver in 2010. In this article, we will discover how old is Narain Karthikeyan? Who is Narain Karthikeyan dating now & how much money does Narain Karthikeyan have?

NameNarain Karthikeyan
First NameNarain
Last NameKarthikeyan
OccupationRace Car Driver
BirthdayJanuary 14
Birth Year1977
Place of BirthCoimbatore
Home TownTamil Nadu
Birth CountryIndia
Birth SignCapricorn
Full/Birth Name
FatherNot Available
MotherNot Available
SiblingsNot Available
SpousePavarna Karthikeyan (m. 2004)
Children(s)Not Available

Narain Karthikeyan Biography

Narain Karthikeyan is one of the most popular and richest Race Car Driver who was born on January 14, 1977 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. In 2012, he got into a feud with He got into a public feud with rival driver Sebastian Vettel in 2012., a rival driver.

Driving for a small team, along with the increasing reliability of modern Formula 1 cars, meant that Karthikeyan twice set the record for the lowest placed finisher in a Formula 1 event. The first occurrence was during the Chinese Grand Prix where the single retirement of Jaime Alguersuari meant Karthikeyan finished in 23rd place, after he was overtaken by teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi on the final lap. However, in the European Grand Prix there were no retirements meaning that Karthikeyan once again broke the record by being the 24th car to cross the finish line.

Karthikeyan qualified in 24th at Suzuka, having crashed in practice and therefore having to use an old-spec chassis floor. He was running ahead of Pic and de la Rosa for quite some time until retiring with vibrations on lap 32. He did a one-stop strategy in Korea and finished last in 20th, almost a lap behind Pic in 19th. In India he once again finished last, running with minor wing damage from a collision at the first corner. He retired in spectacular fashion on lap 9 in Abu Dhabi after his steering broke and he was rear-ended by Nico Rosberg. He qualified 24th in Austin amid fears that both he and his teammate would be outside the 107% time after struggling to heat the tyres in practice on the brand-new circuit, and then finished last in 22nd, also being accused by Vettel of holding him up when being lapped and allowing Lewis Hamilton to take the lead. He qualified 23rd in Brazil and peaked as high as 11th during the incident-packed opening stint of the race. He eventually dropped back and finished last in 18th. He finished the season in 24th, with zero points.

He was born in Tamil Nadu, India.

The 2005 Australian Grand Prix was his first Formula One race.

At the European Grand Prix Karthikeyan for the first time in the season qualified 22nd, ahead of the Marussia of Charles Pic, with Timo Glock missing qualifying and the race due to illness. He finished the race in 18th, behind Pic and de la Rosa but classified ahead of Lewis Hamilton who retired after crashing out with two laps remaining. He finished the next 3 races as the final classified finisher before retiring in Hungary due to broken suspension. He qualified last in Belgium, before running as high as 13th during the race, with good pace, before crashing out on lap 30 in broken suspension. He out-qualified his teammate de la Rosa for the first time this year at Monza, but ended up finishing behind him in 19th. He out-qualified him again at Singapore, this time by over a second, but crashed out at turn 16 on lap 30.

Narain Karthikeyan Net Worth

Narain is one of the richest Race Car Driver from India. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Narain Karthikeyan's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: January 13, 2024)

He attended Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary school in Coimbatore (India).

Net Worth$5 Million
SalaryUnder Review
Source of IncomeRace Car Driver
CarsNot Available
HouseLiving in own house.

Karthikeyan was born in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He did his schooling at Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore. His interest in motorsport began at an early age, as his father was a former Indian national rally champion winning South India Rally seven times. With the ambition of becoming India’s first Formula One driver, Karthikeyan finished on the podium in his first ever race, at Sriperumpudur in a Formula Maruti (a.k.a. FISSME). He then went on to the Elf Winfield Racing School in France, showing his talent by becoming a semi-finalist in the Pilote Elf Competition for Formula Renault cars in 1992. He returned to India to race in Formula Maruti for the 1993 season, and in the same year, he also competed in the Formula Vauxhall Junior championship in Great Britain. This gave him valuable experience in European racing, and he was keen to return for the following year.

In 1994, he returned to the UK, racing in the Formula Ford Zetec series as the number two works Vector driver for the Foundation Racing team. The highlight of the season was a podium finish in a support race for the Portuguese Grand Prix held at Estoril. He also took part in the British Formula Ford Winter Series, and became the first Indian driver to win any championship in Europe.

Ethnicity, religion & political views

Many peoples want to know what is Narain Karthikeyan ethnicity, nationality, Ancestry & Race? Let's check it out! As per public resource, IMDb & Wikipedia, Narain Karthikeyan's ethnicity is Asian/Indian. We will update Narain Karthikeyan's religion & political views in this article. Please check the article again after few days.

Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (born 14 January 1977) is a racing driver who was the first Formula One driver from India. He has previously competed in A1GP, and the Le Mans Series. He has won multiple races in A1GP, British F3, World series by Nissan, AutoGP, Formula Asia, British Formula Ford & Opel series in his single-seater career. He won the British Formula Ford Winter Series in 1994 & Formula Asia Championship in 1996. He also finished fourth overall in British F3 in 2000 & the World Nissan series in 2003. He made his Formula One debut in 2005 with the Jordan team, and was a Williams F1 test driver in 2006 and 2007. Like several other former F1 drivers, Karthikeyan moved to stock car racing and drove the No. 60 Safe Auto Insurance Company Toyota Tundra for Wyler Racing in the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In 2011 he returned to F1 with the HRT team, continued with the team in 2012 and was expected to drive for them in the 2013 season as well. However, HRT was not included in the FIA’s 2013 entry list, and thus Karthikeyan was left without a drive. From 2014–2018, Karthikeyan raced in Japanese Super Formula series. In 2019 he ended his single-seater career by joining SuperGT series in Japan.

Who is Narain Karthikeyan Dating?

According to our records, Narain Karthikeyan married to Pavarna Karthikeyan (m. 2004). As of January 13, 2024, Narain Karthikeyan’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record: We have no records of past relationships for Narain Karthikeyan. You may help us to build the dating records for Narain Karthikeyan!

In 1995, Karthikeyan graduated to the Formula Asia Championship for just four races. However, he showed pace immediately and was able to finish second in the race at Shah Alam, Malaysia. In 1996, he had a full season in the series and became the first Indian and the first Asian to win the Formula Asia International series. He moved back to Britain in 1997 to compete in the British Formula Opel Championship with the Nemesis Motorsport team, taking a pole position and win at Donington Park and finishing sixth in the overall points standings.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Narain Karthikeyan height 5 ft 7 in Narain weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Height5 ft 7 in
WeightNot Known
Body MeasurementsUnder Review
Eye ColorNot Available
Hair ColorNot Available
Feet/Shoe SizeNot Available

Kartikeyan qualified last for the following five races (bar in Spain where Lewis Hamilton was excluded from qualifying and in Monaco where Sergio Pérez crashed without setting a time) however he started 24th and last twice (in Bahrain and Canada) due to other drivers picking up grid penalties. In China he finished 22nd, ahead of Caterham’s Heikki Kovalainen. In Bahrain, he finished 21st and was classified ahead of the Williams of Bruno Senna who retired due to brake issues. In Spain he retired after a wheel nut failure on lap 22 due to a botched pit stop. In Monaco he started 22nd, ahead of Perez and the penalised Pastor Maldonado and finished the race in 15th, classified ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button who retired after collision damage with Kovalainen. In Canada he retired for the second time in the season after suffering a brake failure on lap 22 which made him spin in turn 1 and stop later on in the lap. His teammate Pedro de la Rosa retired with a similar issue two laps later.

In 1998, Karthikeyan made his debut in the British Formula 3 Championship with the Carlin Motorsport team. Competing in only 10 rounds, he managed two third-place finishes in the final two races of the season, at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone, to finish 12th overall. He continued in the championship for 1999, finishing on the podium five times, including two wins at Brands Hatch. His season also included two pole positions, three fastest laps and two lap records, helping him to sixth in the championship. He also competed in the Macau Grand Prix, qualifying in sixth position and finishing sixth in the second race. He was the first racing driver to record a win for Carlin in British F3 ever since then Carlin have been invincible in terms of race wins in the British F3 Championship. Continuing his drive in the British F3 Championship in 2000, he finished fourth overall in the standings, and also took pole position and fastest laps in the Macau Grand Prix. He also won both the International F3 race at Spa-Francorchamps and the Korea Super Prix.

Facts & Trivia

Narain Ranked on the list of most popular Race Car Driver. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in India. Narain Karthikeyan celebrates birthday on January 14 of every year.

Karthikeyan started 2001 in the Formula Nippon F3000 Championship, finishing the year amongst the top ten. In the same year, he became the first Indian to ever drive a Formula One car, testing for the Jaguar Racing team at Silverstone on 14 June. Impressed with his performance, he was then offered a test drive in the Jordan-Honda EJ11 at Silverstone in September. Karthikeyan again tested for Jordan, at Mugello in Italy on 5 October, finishing just half a second off the pace off Jordan’s lead driver Jean Alesi.

What is Narain Karthikeyan doing now?

As of now, the plan for February 2021 is that Narain Kathikeyan will lead a three-man team to compete in the prestigious Le Mans Series in Abhu Dhabi. The Indian team will be using an ORECA O7 car. Narain was quoted saying “I have been dreaming of going back to Le Mans for a few years now”.

Was Narain Karthikeyan a good driver?

“His win at the DTM x JSGT Dream race was a very difficult one, but he drove superbly, winning against some of the best sports-car drivers in the world. Although we would have liked him to continue racing for Nakajima Racing in 2020 and beyond, Narain has decided to explore other opportunities.

Is Narain Karthikeyan still racing?

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Class wins0

Was Narain Karthikeyan a pay driver?

The pay driver is still very much with us. Vitaly Petrov is bringing a lot of money, so is Narain Karthikeyan and so was Sakon Yamamoto. They are by no means the worst pay drivers in history.

Who is Karthikeyan in FIR?

FIR (2022) – Ram C. as Abu Bakkar Abdulla, Karthikeyan – IMDb.

You may read full biography about Narain Karthikeyan from Wikipedia.