Talks on with Spyker: Karthikeyan

Narain Karthikeyan on Tuesday confirmed that talks are on with Spyker, the Formula One team part-owned by Vijay Mallya, even though he is keeping himself busy till December by representing Team India in the A1 Grand Prix.

After his soured stint with Jordan, Karthikeyan joined Williams as the test driver. Last year he did five races for Team India in A1 GP, including a fourth place finish at Brands Hatch, but the driver made it clear that in case he has to choose between the two -- it would be Formula One.

"In case I have to make a choice, it would obviously be F1. For the moment, however, I'm committed to A1 GP till December. I'm talking with a few teams in the F1, including Spyker, and if it does not clash with Formula One, I would be happy to race for Team India," Karthikeyan told reporters.

Karthikeyan's F1 dream received a shot in the arm with Mallya making a joint bid with the Moi family for the Spyker and the liquor baron later said that he would be happy to see an Indian driver behind the wheel.

"I'm speaking to them but don't know how long it would take before things crystallize. I can't say how it would pan out," he said.

Yohann Setna, A1 Team India's chief operating officer, said in case Karthikeyan left the side midway through the season, he had a contingency plan in place.

"If Narain's F1 and A1 GP commitments clash, we have other options in Karun Chandhok, Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaren," he said.

Karthikeyan, who set the fastest timing in the Silverstone test session last week, oozed confidence of doing well in the forthcoming A1 GP season and said the team has realistic chances of winning a couple of races.

"We would love to win a few races, that's quite realistic. In fact going by our form in the practice session, I'm quite sure of it," he said.

"This time, we have a better set up and lot more financial support. With 10 strong teams around, it's hard to predict a winner but we would be competitive, that's for sure."