India's Narain Karthikeyan, who escaped unhurt from a big accident at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Sunday, said he was extremely disappointed that he could not finish the race for his team -- Jordan.
"What a shame to have an early end to a good race. Everything was really going fine. I am so disappointed for me and for the team not to have been able to finish this race," the rookie F-1 driver said.
"I was lucky to escape the accident as I did not hurt myself although the car was in pieces. I only have a sore neck," he said while revealing that he had promised himself before the start that he would cross the line in a good position.
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Karthikeyan had a good start to the race, the final of the season. After having completed the formation lap, Karthikeyan started from the pitlane but an unexpected technical problem occurred on his car and the team had to change the strategy at the start.
"I had a very good start and despite the weight of my car, on the sixth lap, I had Sato and Albers behind me. I was trailing in 16th and 14th and then 13th after Montoya's retirement. The strategy of the team was working. It was a real good race but till then," Karthikeyan said.
On lap 29, Karthikeyan's car slipped on the artificial grass on the track. The car disintegrated completely as it spun and hit the side barrier on turn 13.
Luckily the Indian driver emerged unhurt from the accident after which the safety car was deployed for an additional few laps to clear the debris.
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