Karun Chandhok
 Chandhok at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix |
|
| Born | 19 January 1984 |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Indian |
| Active years | 2010–2011 |
| Teams | Hispania, Lotus |
| Races | 11 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First race | 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| Last race | 2011 German Grand Prix |
| 2011 position | 28th (0 pts) |
Karun Chandhok (Hindi: करुण चंडोक; born January 19, 1984 in Madras) is an Indian racing driver, who competed for Hispania Racing in Formula One in 2010. Before this, he drove in the GP2 Series for three years, winning two races.
Prior to his time in GP2, Chandhok won the Formula Asia championship in 2001 and was the inaugural Formula Asia V6 by Renault champion in 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
In 2000, Chandhok was Indian National Racing Champion winning seven out of ten races in the Formula Maruti series. He scored Pole position and fastest lap in all ten races. In 2001 Chandhok was the Formula 2000 Asia champion, becoming the youngest ever Asian Formula Champion, driving for Team India Racing.
Chandhok tested with British Formula 3 champion team Carlin Motorsport in 2001. He raced in the National class in 2002, driving for T-Sport, finishing sixth in class. He stayed with T-Sport in the National Class for 2003, and finished third in the final class standings, behind champion Ernesto Viso and runner-up Steven Kane. In 2004 Chandhok stepped up to the main British Formula 3 class with T-Sport, and finished 14th in the standings.
He was instantly a top 5 qualifier and finisher when he partnered his compatriot Narain Karthikeyan at RC Motorsport in the World Series by Nissan for the final two rounds the 2004 season.
With Karthikeyan moving on to Formula One in 2005, Chandhok raced part-season in the revised Formula Renault 3.5 Series with RC Motorsport. He was the first driver to represent A1 Team India in A1 Grand Prix at the beginning of the 2005–06 season, before handing over to Armaan Ebrahim for the remainder of the season.
In 2006 he became champion of the first ever Formula Asia V6 by Renault Championship, taking seven race wins and nine pole positions from 12 races.
[edit] GP2 Series
Chandhok moved to the GP2 Series in 2007, driving for Durango. Chandhok's first win in GP2 came in the sprint race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. Chandhok also led the sprint race in Turkey after starting from pole, only for the second place Kazuki Nakajima of DAMS to collide with him. The collision resulted in retirement for Chandhok while Nakajima was given a drive-through penalty.
Chandok got his biggest career break in November with a call up from the Red Bull Racing Formula One team to test for them over two days at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona on 13–14 November.
Chandhok remained in GP2 for 2008, switching to the iSport International team where he was partnered by Bruno Senna.[1] He won one race and finished tenth in the drivers' championship. He also drove for the team in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series season. After winning one race and finishing tenth in the championship, Chandhok was presented with the series' "Best Driving Style" award at the end of the season.[2]
In November, Chandhok became the first Indian driver to be invited to join the British Racing Drivers' Club. India's membership of the Commonwealth entitles him to be a member.[3]
Chandhok signed to drive for the Ocean Racing Technology team in the 2009 GP2 Series season.[4] Even though the deal with ORT was for the pan-European series, Chandhok also drove in the final round of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season, in Bahrain replacing Yelmer Buurman.[5] Chandhok amassed ten points in the championship, with a best result of third at Silverstone. He and team-mate Álvaro Parente suffered a testing season, with sixteen retirements between them.
[edit] Formula One
[edit] Force India links
Karun was linked with the Force India team, which was created in 2008. It is an Indian registered-team and is owned by a friend of the family, Vijay Mallya. After the team's driver, Giancarlo Fisichella, moved from Force India to Ferrari during the 2009 season, Chandhok was briefly linked with the seat, with even long-time supporter Bernie Ecclestone supporting him. The team's test driver, Vitantonio Liuzzi, was instead promoted to the race seat.
Chandhok said in Autosport, on 11 June 2010, that he was targeting a move to Force India for 2011. Chandhok believed that the commercial benefits for the team running an Indian driver make him an obvious choice.[6]
[edit] Hispania (2010)
Chandhok began the 2010 season driving for Hispania Racing alongside former GP2 team-mate Bruno Senna,[7] becoming the second Indian driver to compete in Formula One after Narain Karthikeyan in 2005.
At Chandhok's first race, the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, he was unable to complete a lap in any of the free practice sessions as his car was still being completed and then suffered hydraulic problems. He was, however, able to use the qualifying session to run his F110 for the first time. He qualified last on the grid, 1.7 seconds behind Senna, who had completed laps earlier in the meeting,[8] and crashed out of the race after just one lap due to a large bump in the tarmac which sent him crashing into the wall. Chandhok recorded the team's first classified finish, when he ended up fourteenth in Australia. In Malaysia he finished 15th and finished 17th in China. Chandhok retired in the next three races with suspension failure in Spain, an accident with Jarno Trulli in Monaco and more technical problems in Turkey. He finished 18th in Canada and Valencia, and 19th at Silverstone, but was dropped for the German Grand Prix onwards, in favour of Sakon Yamamoto. For all the following races he was a co-commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage of the sport.
[edit] Lotus (2011)
On 22 March 2011, Chandhok was confirmed as a reserve driver at Team Lotus for the 2011 season.[9] He drove the car in free practice for the Australian Grand Prix, crashing out on the installation lap. He reprised his co-commentary role for BBC Radio 5 Live at the Spanish Grand Prix. After driving in a further three free practice sessions he replaced Jarno Trulli for the German Grand Prix.[10] He finished 20th and last, two laps behind teammate Heikki Kovalainen and a lap behind 19th placed Daniel Ricciardo. He was also 4 laps behind race winner Lewis Hamilton.[11]
[edit] 2012
In the last quarter of 2011, Chandhok joined the i1 Super Series as an International class driver for its inaugural season in 2012.[12] Chandhok had admitted that he was unlikely to gain a Formula One seat for 2012, and targeted a third driver place once again. He also wishes to compete in the new World Endurance Championship, especially at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.[12]
[edit] Racing record
[edit] Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Formula Maruti | ? | 10 | 7 | 10 | ? | 10 | ? | 1st |
| 2001 | Formula 2000 Asia | SMR Team India | 14 | 8 | ? | ? | 13 | 246 | 1st |
| 2002 | British F3 National Class | T-Sport | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 156 | 6th |
| 2003 | British F3 National Class | T-Sport | 24 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 20 | 314.5 | 3rd |
| 2004 | British Formula Three | T-Sport | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 14th |
| World Series by Nissan | Tata RC Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 16th | |
| 2005 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | RC Motorsport | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29th |
| 2005–06 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team India | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 15th |
| 2006 | Formula V6 Asia by Renault | Team E-Rain | 12 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 131 | 1st |
| 2007 | GP2 Series | Durango | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 15th |
| 2008 | GP2 Asia Series | iSport International | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 13th |
| GP2 Series | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 10th | ||
| 2008–09 | GP2 Asia Series | Ocean Racing Technology | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26th |
| 2009 | GP2 Series | Ocean Racing Technology | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 18th |
| 2010 | Formula One | Hispania Racing | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22nd |
| 2011 | Formula One | Team Lotus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28th |
[edit] Complete A1 Grand Prix results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | India | GBR SPR 15 |
GBR FEA DNS |
GER SPR 16 |
GER FEA Ret |
POR SPR |
POR FEA |
AUS SPR |
AUS FEA |
MYS SPR |
MYS FEA |
UAE SPR |
UAE FEA |
RSA SPR |
RSA FEA |
IDN SPR |
IDN FEA |
MEX SPR |
MEX FEA |
USA SPR |
USA FEA |
CHN SPR |
CHN FEA |
24th | 0 |
[edit] Complete GP2 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Durango | BHR FEA 9 |
BHR SPR Ret |
ESP FEA Ret |
ESP SPR 15 |
MON FEA Ret |
FRA FEA Ret |
FRA SPR 16 |
GBR FEA 12 |
GBR SPR 13 |
GER FEA Ret |
GER SPR 16 |
HUN FEA 14 |
HUN SPR 15 |
TUR FEA 8 |
TUR SPR Ret |
ITA FEA 5 |
ITA SPR 6 |
BEL FEA 7 |
BEL SPR 1 |
VAL FEA 17 |
VAL SPR Ret |
15th | 16 |
| 2008 | iSport International | ESP FEA 9 |
ESP SPR Ret |
TUR FEA 4 |
TUR SPR 12 |
MON FEA 3 |
MON SPR Ret |
FRA FEA 7 |
FRA SPR Ret |
GBR FEA 3 |
GBR SPR Ret |
GER FEA 8 |
GER SPR 1 |
HUN FEA 4 |
HUN SPR DNS |
EUR FEA 15 |
EUR SPR Ret |
BEL FEA 10 |
BEL SPR 7 |
ITA FEA 11 |
ITA SPR Ret |
10th | 31 | |
| 2009 | Ocean Racing Technology | ESP FEA Ret |
ESP SPR Ret |
MON FEA 7 |
MON SPR Ret |
TUR FEA 13 |
TUR SPR 14 |
GBR FEA 6 |
GBR SPR 3 |
GER FEA 11 |
GER SPR Ret |
HUN FEA 17 |
HUN SPR 10 |
VAL FEA Ret |
VAL SPR 6 |
BEL FEA Ret |
BEL SPR 7 |
ITA FEA 19 |
ITA SPR 12 |
POR FEA Ret |
POR SPR 13 |
18th | 10 |
[edit] Complete GP2 Asia Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | iSport International | DUB1 FEA 7 |
DUB1 SPR 3 |
IDN FEA Ret |
IDN SPR 13 |
MYS FEA Ret |
MYS SPR 7 |
BHR FEA 8 |
BHR SPR Ret |
DUB2 FEA Ret |
DUB2 SPR Ret |
13th | 7 | ||
| 2008–09 | Ocean Racing Technology | CHN FEA |
CHN SPR |
DUB FEA |
DUB SPR |
BHR1 FEA |
BHR1 SPR |
QAT FEA |
QAT SPR |
MYS FEA |
MYS SPR |
BHR2 FEA 9 |
BHR2 SPR Ret |
26th | 0 |
[edit] Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Hispania Racing F1 Team | Hispania F110 | Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 | BHR Ret |
AUS 14 |
MAL 15 |
CHN 17 |
ESP Ret |
MON 14 |
TUR 20 |
CAN 18 |
EUR 18 |
GBR 19 |
GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | KOR | BRA | ABU | 22nd | 0 |
| 2011 | Team Lotus | Lotus T128 | Renault RS27 2.4 V8 | AUS TD |
MAL | CHN | TUR TD |
ESP | MON | CAN | EUR TD |
GBR TD |
GER 20 |
HUN | BEL TD |
ITA TD |
SIN | JPN TD |
KOR TD |
IND TD |
ABU | BRA | 28th | 0 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Chandhok and Senna sign for iSport". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). 2007-12-19. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64436. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ "Chandhok wins Best Driving Style award". Motorsport.com. 2008-09-16. http://www.motorsport.com/#/gp2/news/chandhok-wins-best-driving-style-award. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- ^ "Chandhok receives BRDC invite". crash.net. 2008-11-26. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/gp2/news/172165-0/chandhok_receives_brdc_invite.html. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- ^ "ORT sign Chandhok for main series". autosport.com. 2009-02-03. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73108. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
- ^ "Nunes leads a Piquet GP 1–2 podium finish as Kobayashi takes title". AutomobilSport (MaP). 2009-04-25. http://www.automobilsport.com/gp2-asia-diego-nunes-piquet-podium-kobayashi-title-asia-series-jerome-dambrosio-valsecchi---62172.html. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
- ^ Noble, Jonathan (2010-06-11). "Chandhok targets Force India seat". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/subs/login.php?r=http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84314&type=news&id=84314. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- ^ Noble, Jonathan (2010-03-04). "Chandhok announced as HRT driver". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81842. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
- ^ Straw, Edd (2010-03-13). "Chandhok: Qualifying was a shakedown". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82100. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "Karun Chandhok named as Team Lotus reserve". BBC Sport (BBC). 22 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9432133.stm. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ Benson, Andrew (21 July 2011). "Karun Chandhok replaces Jarno Trulli for German GP". BBC Sport (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/14220866.stm. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ Bear, Matt (24 July 2011). "Lewis Hamilton wins thrilling German Grand Prix". Autosport (Haymarket). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93329. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- ^ a b Straw, Edd (26 December 2011). "Karun Chandhok wants to continue F1 third driver role but aims to twin it with a campaign in the World Endurace Championship". Autosport. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96840. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Karun Chandhok |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by New championship |
Formula V6 Asia Champion 2006 |
Succeeded by James Winslow |
