I have had very few regrets in life: Narain Karthikeyan

New Delhi: Adversities have made him a stronger person and that's precisely the reason why Narain Karthikeyan doesn't find any lack of motivation after switching over to Auto GP from Formula One as he aims to win the championship this season.

Karthikeyan takes a lot of pride in the way he defied odds in the challenging and financially demanding world of motorsport and found a foothold for himself.

All his struggle culminated in taking him to the pinnacle of the sport - F1 - in 2005. He drove for Hispania in 2011 and 2012 but when the team withdrew from the grid last season, Karthikeyan began his stint in AutoGP, where he initially raced for Zele Racing before switching to Super Nova.

Is he a satisfied person in terms of professional success?

"I am quite satisfied, and have very few regrets. Nothing came easy, especially in motorsport as there was absolutely no awareness in India when I started out," Karthikeyan said.

"Whatever I have achieved, it has been because of my hard work and nothing else. No one handed out any favours, and being a coloured driver racing in UK and Europe during my early days was more difficult than you'd think in modern times."

"The only thing I am somewhat sorry about is crashing out of the Macau Formula 3 GP in 2000, after starting on pole and leading the race by several seconds. I was the fastest driver all weekend, and but for that crash I would have made it to the F1 grid much before than I finally did in 2005. But apart from that, I am satisfied with how things have turned out. I never give up and at times I've always made it against all odds and expectations. I have no doubts in my ability and that is what has taken me this far," he said.

After driving in the most demanding series, is there anything that he he has learnt about racing in Auto GP?

"Obviously, the cars are less hi-tech than F1 but it is still a very powerful single-seater with good downforce. When you have far younger drivers to match up to and beat, you are always learning and trying to find that extra tenth, which means you're always improving. It is less about strategy and more about driving and finding an advantage vis--vis your opposition," he said.

Karthikeyan said the format of racing in Auto GP is such that it makes it challenging for everyone. The sense of competitiveness keeps him motivated for the races.

"The format is more of a sprint and we have only a single pit-stop and the races aren't too long. But unlike F1 where you are usually in a race of your own after the first pit-stop, especially in my situation at HRT where we had no one to race with, the AutoGP races are on the limit from start to the flag.

"You're always in the pack, fighting with cars around and pushing 100 percent all the time as we don't have to worry about conserving tyres and so on. So it is all about speed and racecraft right to the finish line and it is something I truly enjoy," he said.