Former F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan has been honoured by the Government of India by bestowing upon him the Padma Shri Award - the Indian equivalent of the OBE - in recognition of his contribution in the sphere of sports. This is a great honour, not only for Narain himself, but also recognizes Indian Motorsport for the first time. Up to 2009, only 2,255 people have been granted this honour.

Upon learning of his award, Karthikeyan said, "I am deeply honoured and humbled by the Government of India in receiving this award. It is truly a great day, not only in my life, but also in the life of Indian Motorsport. I have countless people to thank and credit for this achievement - first and foremost of which is my family, without whose unrelenting support, my career would not have taken the path it has. My sponsors, the Tata Group, Bharat Petroleum, JK Tyres and Amaron, who have supported me for so many years, as well as MRF Tyres, with whom I have recently entered into a partnership, have also been crucial to my success as a racing driver. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every person at all of these companies who have supported and believed in me for so many years. Last, but not least, I owe a huge debt of thanks to all of my fans, who have cheered me on through all of my successes. I dedicate this award to all of them."

In the first ever Castrol Motorsport Rankings, Narain Karthikeyan has been rated as the top Indian racing driver in the world, ranked 126th out of 2,000 drivers in the overall world classifications, 75 places ahead of his nearest Indian rival.