India's first Formula One driver was Narain Karthikeyan. Karthikeyan made his debut in driving for Jordan. He ended the season with 5 points, having come 4th at the United States Grand Prix. Besides this, Karthikeyan's best result was eleventh. Karthikeyan was dropped after Jordan was sold to Midland. He was given the role as 4th driver for the Williams team for the season, and was promoted to third driver after Mark Webber left the team in . Karthikeyan took a race seat with HRT for the season. He was replaced after 7 rounds by Daniel Ricciardo. He later made a one-off return at the 2011 Indian Grand Prix, replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi. He drove for HRT again in the season, this time partnering with Pedro de la Rosa. Kartikeyan struggled against his teammate, failing to beat him throughout the season's races. He lost his race seat after HRT folded at the end of the year.