Karthikeyan Hindered by Oil Leak

Narain Karthikeyan's Grand Prix debut was hindered by an oil leak which saw him failing to set a competitive laptime in the opening practice session in Melbourne.

Karthikeyan, the first Indian to drive a Formula One car, made his debut at a Grand Prix weekend in a Jordan but returned to the garage with a smoking Toyota engine after only six laps.

He managed to do better in the second session, however, and finished down in 19th position.

The Indian admitted he now needed to calm down.

"I lost a lot of time this morning because of an oil leak, so after that I have been pushing very hard," said Karthikeyan at the end of his first day of work. "Now I just need to calm down a bit because I was under pressure to perform."

Karthikeyan's teammate Tiago Monteiro, also making his Grand Prix debut this weekend, was slowest in the second Jordan.

"It was my first contact on the track today," he said. "It was not very easy because I have to adapt myself to the bumpy conditions and work more on the set up to feel more comfortable in the car. It is the first day of acclimatisation but I am confident we are going to improve tomorrow."