Narain Karthikeyan will return to lead Team India in the new A1 GP season as he bids to turn his race winning exploits of last year into a strong challenge for the title.

Karthikeyan broke the country's points duck in the 2006/07 season before following it up with wins at Zhuhai and Brands Hatch last year, results that helped India to tenth in the final standings.

Now Karthikeyan is eager to help India become the first non-European nation to lift the 'World Cup of Motorsport' this season.

"This year holds a lot of expectations from India and I am looking forward for a consistent performance for A1 Team India,” said Karthikeyan. “Hopefully, the new season brings more interesting and challenging paradigms for us to prove our capability to the motor racing world.”

The launch also confirmed that Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiv Sureshwaren will be called back to compete in the rookie sessions, while a distinctive new livery for the Ferrari F1-inspired car – which will be turquoise all over – was also shown.

“Today is a momentous day for all of us here,” said Andaleeb Sehgal, chief executive officer of A1 Team India. “We had a phenomenal third season with two wins at Zhuhai and Brands Hatch, and we are all geared up to make this forthcoming season even better.

“We have a lot of expectations from the new structure of the team and hopefully India will emerge as on of the best performing countries participating in the races.”