“From the time I was on pole, I knew we had a chance to win the race. I got a rocket start and I went on to get a good result,” Karthikeyan told Deccan Herald from Brands Hatch.

“I am happy to finish the season on a high. I am also happy that Team India finished in the top-10 in the standings,” he added. India finished the championship in 10th place with 61 points.

Commenting about the car and how it behaved over the weekend, Karthikeyan said: “The car was very good this weekend. The overall package was good and we were able to do well.”

Referring to the minor collision his car had with Team Ireland’s (Adam Carroll), Karthikeyan said: “With Ireland, it was a close call. I had the racing line and I felt my car being touched but it was not so badly damaged.”

The second pit stop Team India took proved to be decisive and perhaps was what tilted the race in India’s favour. “Robbie (Kerr) and I went into the pits together and I managed to come out just in front of him. We had a good pit stop. The team did very well on that front,” he said.

Prior knowledge of the track always helps and Karthikeyan had that advantage this time. “I have raced earlier at this track. There have been some changes made to the track. But still some experience from the past helped,” he said.

Asked about next year’s prospects, the resident of Coimbatore said: “It is going to be good from next year with Ferrari coming in. It will be like Formula One.” “We are going to be testing soon. There is not too much time left for that,” he added.