India's Narain Karthikeyan could be in line for a Formula One comeback as replacement for dropped Dutch driver Christijan Albers at Spyker.

Team boss Colin Kolles told Reuters on Tuesday that Karthikeyan, who raced for him at Jordan in 2005 and is now the second Williams test driver, was on his list of possible options.

Another was Austrian Christian Klien, currently the Honda test driver after three seasons with Red Bull and their predecessors Jaguar.

Klien has driven most recently, taking part in Friday practice for Honda at the British Grand Prix last week after Briton Jenson Button suffered back pains, and visited the Spyker factory on Monday.

"For the moment, no other driver is signed," said Kolles.

"Obviously, Narain is one of the options... I think it's a good option and we are just in the process of evaluating this," he added. "Williams is informed about this possibility, yes."

Markus Winkelhock, already under contract to Spyker as a test driver and in possession of the necessary super licence, may however be drafted in first for what would be a home race at the Nuerburgring in Germany next week.

"We are looking into it...if we do Markus a favour if he's driving at Nuerburgring," said Kolles. "Especially for the reason that I think he didn't do too much mileage in the car this year."

Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde, one of Spyker's other testers, does not yet have a super licence.

Albers dropped
The team said earlier on Tuesday they had dropped Albers with immediate effect due to non-payment by one of his main sponsors and a decision on the 28-year-old's replacement would be taken in due course.

Kolles said the move was essential for the Dutch-owned team's finances and accepted there could be a backlash in the Netherlands.

He added that German rookie Adrian Sutil, the team's second driver, was in no danger of losing his place.

Narain delighted

India's Narain Karthikeyan would be delighted to return as a Formula One driver after being linked with a possible move to Spyker, he said on Tuesday.

The Williams test driver and Austrian Christian Klien are being considered to replace Dutch driver Christijan Albers, who Spyker dropped due to non-payment by one of his main sponsors.

Klien is currently the Honda test driver after three seasons with Red Bull and their predecessors Jaguar.

Spyker Team boss Colin Kolles told Reuters Karthikeyan, who raced for him at Jordan in 2005 and is now the second Williams test driver, was on his list of options.

"Colin had a chat with me at Silverstone," the 30-year-old Indian driver told Reuters. "I'll be delighted to get back to racing, but I'm definitely enjoying my time at Williams."

Karthikeyan became India's first Formula One driver two years ago when he was signed up by the former Jordan team. He has been a Williams tester for the last two seasons.

His manager Mark Perkins, who expects a decision in the next few days, told Reuters from Monaco: "Spyker hope Narain can do a better job than Albers is doing at the moment. We will know by the end of the week."

Perkins said the Indian driver also had an offer from Racing Engineering in the GP2 series. Any decision would depend on how Karthikeyan viewed his future career.