Force India has confirmed Narain Karthikeyan’s suspicion that the door to the Silverstone based team is closed.
Currently hoping to keep his place at the back of the grid with HRT, Karthikeyan is F1’s only Indian driver, but so far he has never been seriously linked with countryman Vijay Mallya’s nationally-branded team.
Lewis Hamilton said this week he has his fingers crossed for Karthikeyan, as a move to Force India would be "a huge stepping stone for him".
But Karthikeyan, 35, replied that he thinks Force India "have their own plans" for 2013.
Indeed, Force India’s deputy Bob Fernley told the Indian Telegraph: "For the moment, we are very happy with the current set of drivers we have.
"(Do) you want to be simply patriotic or stay competitive on the circuit?" he asked rhetorically. "Force India are trying to improve their performance every year.
"Show me a good Indian driver and I will definitely be interested in him," he added. "For the moment, we have no such plan," added Fernley.