Karun Chandhok hopes to be on the grid in India
As the first Indian Grand Prix approaches rapidly, Karun Chandhok has still not been announced to replace Jarno Trulli for his home race. While this temporary appointment would be anything but a surprise, the official announcement is slow to come.
As of now, the Indian driver is guaranteed to participate in the first practice session of the first Indian Grand Prix in history, as he stated during a promotional event for the carbon bike brand Montra: «You will definitely see me in the Friday practice session and I will give my utmost. But for the rest of the two days, we still have to wait to find out.»
Indeed, Tony Fernandes’ team has two contracted drivers, Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli, who aren’t very keen on giving up their seats, even if it might draw media attention to the team and thus its sponsors: «It’s complicated because there are contractual complications because the team must honor the contracts of two drivers. But on my side, I would love to drive. Tony Fernandes has said many times that he would love for this to happen. But ultimately, you have to understand that F1 is a business.»
In any case, Karun Chandhok reaffirms that he is at the center of all media attention by the national press, for whom the presence of the country’s nationals is important to increase the appeal of F1 in a country where cricket is the king sport: I refuse more press requests than I can give at the moment. If I wanted, I could do a dozen interviews a day with different magazines, newspapers, and television channels. And for everyone, the very first question is the same and I understand it. Being an Indian driver on the grid for the Indian Grand Prix is an important story here.
It would therefore seem surprising that Tony Fernandes, who never fails to make headlines with himself and his businesses, would miss such an opportunity when other teams (including Sauber and HRT) are multiplying contracts with local teams and Narain Karthikeyan has been officially appointed in place of Vitantonio Liuzzi for this same event.
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
