Earlier this month, Hispania Racing has confirmed that Narain Karthikeyan has been confirmed as one of their divers for the 2011 season. The Indian driver hasn’t competed at this level of motorsport since 2005 when he was racing for the Midland owned Jordan GP Team.

HRT’s main site stated that Karthikeyan was “very pleased to be driving in Formula One again”. He still boasts that he is the only Indian Formula One driver to ever score any points, but that was at the 2005 Indianapolis Grand Prix where only six cars competed in the race.

After not being resigned by Midland for 2006, Karthikeyan became a Williams test driver for two years and then he joined the A1 Grand Prix for three seasons where he won two races. In 2009 he finished sixteenth in the Superleague Formula series where he won one race. In 2010, Karthikeyan raced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where he finished 30th in the standings.

I believe this will be a very difficult season for both Karthikeyan and HRT. Karthikeyan hasn’t shown any progress in other series since he raced for Jordan GP in 2005. He has struggled in the Superleague Formula Series, A1 GP, and in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsports and his resume hasn’t been that impressive from when he last raced.

Apart from his subpar racing seasons since last racing in Formula One, we have to ask if his body is in Formula One shape. Formula One takes a big toll on the neck muscles and he has been away from a similar series for six years.

HRT will be releasing their 2011 car after all the test sessions for the 2011 preseason have been completed, so once again, they will use Bahrain Grand Prix as a personal testing session. Another added weight against Karthikeyan’s return is that the 2011 season will see the 107% rule return after qualifying. Last season, even if a car would finish last in qualifying and have a time far behind the pole sitter, they would have a guaranteed start for the race, not for this upcoming season.

There are big question marks being raised at HRT including the big question of who should be sitting in the second car. Karthikeyan will have even bigger questions being asked about his reliability or if he can even make any of the races on the 2011 calendar. Many of these questions will be answered when the green flag waives at Bahrain, but as it looks now, they might be already be packing up for the next race when the green flag drops.