After picking up a well deserved point in the last race at Spa, hopes were high as the team headed to Interlagos. Both Narian and Tiago had raced at this circuit before so both drivers believed they could set their cars up just right to be competitive.

What many didn’t expect is the stunning qualifying performance from Tiago Monteiro. The EJ15 was 3-4 seconds off the pace at the start of the year, but with the revised EJ15B and his confidence sky high, Tiago set the thirteenth quickest time in the session. This was a record for the highest ever grid position by a Portuguese driver in Formula One (a record often overlooked). The dream didn’t stop there as with a couple of engine change penalties, Monteiro would start eleventh. Karthikeyan just wasn’t able to get anywhere near his teammate but would start a respectable fifteenth after penalties were applied.

But Tiago’s dream would turn in to a nightmare on Sunday morning. The team detected a clutch issue with his car that put his race in jeopardy. Jordan needed to repair this issue, meaning Monteiro would have to start from the pitlane. Now having to deal with traffic, any chance of a result was gone. Karthikeyan got away well and battled with some faster drivers early on, but after flat spotting a tyre, he had to make an extra stop which ruined his race. The final nail in the coffin was Monteiro parked on the side of the road on lap 55, the Portuguese driver was out with driveshaft and hydraulic failure. Tiago’s rookie record would end at sixteen finishes, but in that time he had covered himself in glory with some excellent performances. It was a record that would not be broken until Max Chilton did so in 2013.

Result –

Karthikeyan – 15th (Qualified 17th)

Monteiro – DNF (Qualified 13th)