Chandhok will not race in Indian GP

Tue, 25 Oct 10:07:00 2011

Karun Chandhok will not be racing in the Indian Grand Prix, despite high hopes that he would return to the cockpit for his home race.

Lotus Formula One reserve driver Karun Chandhok of India arrives for the third practice session of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix at the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore September 24, 2011 - 0

Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes had said last month that he would have liked Chandhok to race in the inaugural Indian race alongside Heikki Kovalainen.

But Fernandes said on Tuesday that it is vital for the team to maintain its performance levels in order to secure 10th place in the standings.

With Chandhok not having been able to drive in dry conditions as much as desired, the team has decided Jarno Trulli will keep his racing seat.

Chandhok will be driving in the opening practice session on Friday, though.

"I'm obviously disappointed that I won't be on the grid for the first Indian Grand Prix," Chandhok told AUTOSPORT.

"Everyone knows the most important and emotional race for any driver is their home race and particularly so in my case.

"I've been involved with the project since the track was an empty piece of land. There's such a buzz in India at the moment - I've done 28 interviews in the last two days."

The team has decided not to run Chandhok because it in a close battle for tenth in the Constructors' Championship with HRT and Virgin. It was felt that Trulli's experience was the safer bet despite the Italian having endured a tough season.

Chandhok is hopeful that he can continue with the team in the long-term and that he could have opportunities to race in the future after showing improving form during recent Friday outings.

"I'm sure it's been a tough call for Tony [Fernandes, team principal] to make and on some level I think he's feeling some pain about it as we've always had a good personal relationship," said Chandhok.

"I joined this team mainly because of him and his faith in me while looking at the long term. I continue to hope that this long term plan bears fruit and I hope that one day I get to race for him again."

"From the team perspective the key goal for us this weekend is to maintain the performance levels we saw in the last two races and while I am sure there will be fans in India who want to see Karun race for us on Sunday we had to make the best decision for the future of the team," said Fernandes in a team preview.

"While all the emotional reasons for him driving were right we were conscious that the limited running he has had in the car this season, largely due to the weather conditions that have hit most of his FP1 sessions, has not given him the best preparation for this race, so we have taken the very difficult decision not to run him in the race this weekend."

Reuters

Comment 7 - 26 of 26

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  1. @ darrenhindle
    You missed one point. Do you truly­ believe the best 24 drivers in the world are in­ F1?
    There are pay drivers.
    Seriously, what difference­ doesn't make that a wanna-be pay driver runs a race­ over a never-was?
    Do you really thInk Trulli is only­ being paid by the team?
    I totally dislike the idea of­ pay drivers, but I accept reality.

    With regard to­ Badoer, honestly, do you not think Ferrari had no­ better driver? I believe they gave the man a chan e­ knowing full well his potential. How is running a local­ with a super license different?

    From Bill K, on Thu 27 Oct 4:30

  2. bill k yes i do. the regs for next year are in place to­ allow a bit of continuity for the teams so work done on­ this years car will benefit the team next year, also­ 10th place in the constructors will bring a bigger­ budget and better pit lane garages having been in the­ car all season id say heikki and jarno are in the best­ place to aid the de3velopment required. Your point­ about badoer is a daft one as he replaced a driver­ physically incapable of driving the car he got a chance­ because massa was injured so that has no relevance to­ this point. And if youd read the posts you would see i­ already said it was about time a team put proven talent­ before an unknown quantity just because of money

    From darren, on Wed 26 Oct 20:53

  3. @darrenhindle2001
    Do you really think the team will­ reap benefits from Trulli or Kovalainen telling them­ that the car s*cks for yet another week? Well, OK,­ maybe this would be the week that they put it all­ together and reap the rewards of having two experienced­ drivers, but probably not.

    The whole "If­ karun­ was good enough he would be in the car­ already",­ B.S. doesn't hold water. Do you honestly think that­ every driver in F1 has earned his seat purely on merit­ and that there are not better drivers who simply cannot­ raise the sponsorship to buy a seat? That would be­ naive.

    Even Ferrari gave Badoer a chance. What would­ it hurt to have an Indian in the inaugural home race?

    From Bill K, on Wed 26 Oct 19:31

  4. so let me get this straight you lot think its­­ acceptable for a team to put a driver in the car for­ no­ other reason than he is from the country the race­ is­ in? Its just the same as refusing to employ­ somebody­ because they arent the right nationality or­ colour If­ karun was good enough he would be in the car­ already­ and not just a few laps on a friday morning

    From darren, on Wed 26 Oct 17:41

  5. AS USUAL F1 DOES NEVER LEARN FROM OTHER OPEN WHEELED­ PROBLEMS....look at INDYCAR and the tragic death of a­ true and experienced racer as DAN WEELDON.....too many­ PAY FOR RIDE RACERS AND UNDER EXPERIENCED OWNERS in­ that sport and F1 is going the same way....If they want­ experience in racing at the top then go to GP2 nad race­ there first for 2/3 seasons and gain valuable­ experience...then try out for the big boys toys. ­ Chandhok, and co are not worthy yet of competing in the­ main event yet. what a coup for GP2 if he was to race­ in India in that event

    From captca0s, on Wed 26 Oct 17:25

  6. chandhok leave them go drive fulltime for someone your­ a good driver i like you. you should automaticly be­ able to drive your first home race well out of order

    From leanne, on Wed 26 Oct 16:05

  7. "High hopes", indeed; is that a pot plant in­ the foreground?

    From p!ssirk, on Wed 26 Oct 7:28

  8. In other news, today Reuters has learned that­ Chandhok's large unibrow was affecting aerodynamic­ performance of the car. A move to "split"­ the unibrow did not have the expected benefit in drag­ reduction that was hoped for.

    From laser brain, on Wed 26 Oct 5:08

  9. would have been a nice PR move and that's it. ­ Good call Tony at least Trulli scrumptous will poke­ around nice and slow until the car breaks but at least­ he won't tear it up. Chandhok would for sure put­ it in the wall

    From ericmueller1971, on Wed 26 Oct 5:04

  10. just another pilot renting a drive, that's not true­ competiton. Just like the dwarf the whole thing is just­ hype now.

    From Paul, on Wed 26 Oct 3:29

  11. Decent enough Indian driver at the Indian Grand Prix in­ India. Give that to any marketing bod and its a dream­ scenario. Team Lotus have missed a serious opportunity­ espeically if Chandok had done well in a car he kinda­ knows at a track which is a level playing field for all­ drivers. C'mon, is it that hard to understand?

    From DavIII, on Wed 26 Oct 1:42

  12. Actually quite dissapointed with this news, Chandok is­ a really great down to earth guy and I don't think­ we've really seen him have a chance to show what he­ can do in a good car yet. Trulli constantly moans about­ this power steering issue, should have left him in the­ garage so he can't moan and give Chandok the great­ buzz of driving at the very 1st Indian gp in his home­ country, poor show lotus imo.

    From Martin, on Wed 26 Oct 1:23

  13. 3rd rate driver in a 5th rate car. Wouldnt matter who­ sits in the seat - probably would be better than Trulli­ who has had a lousy year anyway

    From Yelena, on Wed 26 Oct 0:46

  14. HE SEEMS A NICE CHAP, ALWAYS VERY PLEASANT IN TV­ INTERVIEWS, AND WHAT DO "LOTUS" THINK­ THEY WILL BE ABLE TO DO IN THE RACE, WHO TAKE ANY­ NOTICE OF THEM BEING LAPPED.

    From RS1800, on Wed 26 Oct 0:41

  15. He seems a nice guy and it would have been a nice­ thing, but sadly if he has not been performing they­ can't just let him drive because it would be nice.

    From IAN, on Tue 25 Oct 23:12
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    so let me get this straight you lot think its­ acceptable for a team to put a driver in the car for no­ other reason than he is from the country the race is­ in? Its just the same as refusing to employ somebody­ because they arent the right nationality or colour If­ karun was good enough he would be in the car already­ and not just a few laps on a friday morning

    From darren, on Tue 25 Oct 21:45

  17. There Pee taking, How can they not le him race in his­ home Grand Prix. BBC's got something to do with it­ Lol, If there's no last minute change then he must­ be getting a little change on the side from the Beeb­ not to do so race I mean. Knowing that he's doing­ he's guest presenting pretty well! and what better­ to have him presenting at the Indian Grand Prix, no the­ 1st Indian Grand Prix.... The BBC loves all that kinda­ thing. We will see....Would be great to see him race­ for his home crowd as it would be for any driver, just­ imagine Hammy and Button being replaced for by a so­ called foreigner. Hmmmm!

    From F1_Faithfull, on Tue 25 Oct 21:33

  18. Why raise the guy's hopes then?

    From MARK, on Tue 25 Oct 21:09

  19. He looks a bit like an indian james bond in that pic­ but yeah I don't know people are being so @#$% him,­ every driver has had investment, even aryton senna and­ he might not have gotten into f1 without and certainly­ wouldn't have driven in the lower series without­ it. I personally think Karun has done a good job so­ far, not brilliant but he wasn't complaining about­ power steering issue (which unusually Heikki or Karun­ haven't had) and also had a good race when he came­ in for jarno

    From Andrew, on Tue 25 Oct 21:06

  20. Why that photo? he looks like he's about to cry.

    From SideFX, on Tue 25 Oct 20:22
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