The Story of TATA in F1 That Not Enough People Know About…

The TATA Group has had multiple connections with the Formula One circus that most of us petrolheads would barely have noticed, in fact the TATA Consultancy Services company has been a partner of none other than multiple championship winning team Scuderia Ferrari. TCS has been known to help the Italian marque write code for their F1 engines and even their road-going engines. TATA Communications was also the Official Connectivity Provider of Formula One between 2012 and 2020, this deal ended with TATA saying they had achieved their goal of bringing Formula One to the fans like never before. TATA Communications also had deals with Mercedes-AMG Petronas and Williams Racing, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about today.

Tata Communications in Formula 1

(via Redmandarin)

Today I’d like to talk about TATA’s history in F1 as a sponsor where their logo appeared on a Formula 1 car starting of course with the infamous HRT Formula 1 Team. The team was one of the 3 new teams the FIA approved to enter F1 for the 2010 season with Bruno Senna (the great man Ayrton’s nephew) and Chennai local boy, Karun Chandhok. The two had been teammates before in the GP2 series and expectations were relatively high for the duo. After a series of poor results and crashes, the team decided to drop Chandhok to the dismay of F1 fans all over India. He became a co-commentator on BBC Radio 5 for the rest of the season, while he was replaced by Sakon Yamamoto From the German GP onwards.

2005 Jordan EJ15

(via The Livery Blog)

TATA’s F1 connection however, was not solely with Karun Chandhok. It was with fellow Tamilian racing driver Narain Karthikeyan. TATA sponsored Narain’s debut in F1 way back in 2005 and the iconic T logo appeared on the air intake and nose of the bright yellow Jordan EJ15 driven by him and Portuguese racer Tiago Monteiro. The very next year Karthikeyan joined the Williams F1 team as a test driver and the TATA logo appeared very prominently on the blue nose cone of the Williams FW28. The FW28 was the first F1 car that 2016 champ Nico Rosberg raced for a full season in the sport.

2006 Williams FW28

(via WheelsAge)

In 2011, Narain signed to drive for the HRT F1 team alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi in the HRT F111. The TATA logo appeared on this white and red race car on the sides of the air intake and on top of the car right over the front axle. The next year the team returned with the F112 which ran a striking red, white and gold livery and the TATA logo appeared above the front axle, on either side of the fuselage and again on the engine cover. This was HRT’s final year in F1 and even though the team never scored any points in their 3 years with the sport, I’m sure we will all look back on the team fondly remembering the “TATA F1 car” driven by Narain Karthikeyan.

2011 Hispania Racing Team F111

(via Grandprix.com)

With TATA Communications’ F1 deal being terminated at the start of 2020, we may not see them appear in the limelight although they have said that they will continue their F1 partnerships with teams “behind the scenes”. How else will we get to see India represented in F1? Will the TATA logo ever appear on an F1 car again? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!