Mission F1 for Karun, not Force India

Mission F1 for Karun, not Force India

Mobile ESPN's Chetan Narula caught up with ace GP2 Series driver Karun Chandhok, who spoke on his F-1 plans from Monza.

Chetan Narula: This is a big opportunity for you Karun, as you have been in GP2 now for more than two years and have had some rich experiences with different teams.

Karun Chandhok: I think a lot of people back home are getting very excited about it, terming it a very big opportunity. But people also need to understand that we are not talking about racing for Force India, we are not talking about testing for Force India. We are simply talking about spending some time in a virtual simulator. I think we have to keep things in context here.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a great chance for me to start working with the Force India F1 team. I have had some interactions with them but at the same time they have made it clear that Vitantonio Liuzzi will be racing for them for the rest of 2009 and that’s the reality of it. I guess there’s too much excitement over not much a story. 

CN: How is a simulator test different from an actual Formula One car test?

KC: Well, the simulator test is a bit like what the pilots go through when they get into aircraft simulators. You are in a control room and it’s a virtual room. You are looking at a TV screen, you are not driving an actual car and you are not a real track. You are in a virtual world, albeit a highly sophisticated and advanced virtual world. But it’s still not a real car on a real track on a real day. So it’s a slightly different scenario. I have been in simulators before and while they are very realistic, nothing can be as realistic as being in a real car. 

CN: You have tested for Red Bull at one point of time. For somebody who has driven different GP2 cars and tested an F1 car, how helpful will this experience be for the near future?

KC: Formula One is the most competitive and most difficult category in motorsport. It is top of the tree in our world and it is the most competitive level. At the same time, nothing better in the world to prepare you for Formula One than GP2. The guys on the grid today who have come from GP, you know, Hamilton, Vettel, Glock, Nelson Piquet, Kovalainen; so many of these guys have come through the ranks from GP2 and all of them are straight away running at the front.

Take Romain Grosjean for example for Renault. He has come from GP2. We have driven in GP2 together and when he was debuting at Valencia, he was within three-tenths of a second of double world champion Fernando Alonso. You don’t get to do that if you are not well prepared. So I think GP2 is definitely a strong stepping stone for Formula One and it has been well proven. 

CN: In your current season in GP2, you are placed 18th with third place as your best finish. You would surely want to improve on that as you have won before.

KC: I don’t hide the fact that it has been a very difficult situation and the points we have scored in the championship doesn’t reflect the potential of the team. We have lost a lot of points from reliability issues and we should have had a race win in Monaco, a podium in Istanbul and a whole lot of points at other races. So our position is not a true reflection of the potential of the team, or for that matter my potential in this car. We have been on the podium in the past and people have to understand that the actual numbers in black and white do not reflect what the real potential of the team or the driver is. And I guess we have been unlucky in that respect. 

CN: What is exciting people, Karun, is the prospect of an Indian driver in a Force India car. Even Bernie Ecclestone has made his feelings known in this respect. But for some one like you who is looking to break into Formula One, surely other teams are also an option, given that we have three new teams for next year. Are you also looking at, say Campos, Manor and USF1, for an opportunity?

KC: I have said all along that my objective is to be in Formula One in 2010 and to be racing in F1 in 2010 would be a dream come true for me. From an emotional point of view the fact that I am an Indian brings in a patriotic point of view. Of course I would love to drive for Force India. I think it will be good for the country and will be really good for Indian motorsport. It is a good story in that respect. But I also have to look at what is best for me as a professional racing driver and if that means, that there is a chance to race in Formula One for some other team, of course I would take that.

Furthermore, say, if I get a chance to be a test driver or simulator for Force India and some other team offers me a race drive, my goal is to be a F1 race driver. And I am going to take the race seat ahead of the test seat. So for the last few months, we have been very actively speaking to other teams as well as there will be many options in the pitlane next year. But it is very tough you know. There are very few seats available and there are lots of drivers in the mix. So we will have to see what happens.

CN: What do you think about Force India’s chances at Monza this weekend? It is a low downforce, high speed circuit; do you think they will fancy themselves?

KC: I think they are going to be very competitive. I think a low downforce configuration is very good for them as they have a lot of straight line speed. Low drag high speeds seem to be working very well for them and the McLaren engine is working very well for them. So they should be in a very good shape for this Italian GP weekend. I think even the street ciruict at Singapore after this should be very good for them as they were doing well at Monaco.

CN: With the idea of an Indian GP being pushed by Bernie and now the probability of an Indian driver in a Force India car, do you think the Indian Government will change their attitude about Formule One not being a sport?

KC: I really don’t know. For me that is the opinion of one individual out of a billion and I don’t want to get into a debate about it all over again. At the end of the day, I believe that the rest of the world understands this to be a sport so how can one country decide that we are not. I don’t really want to say any more about this because when the rest of the world believes we are a sport, I don’t see how one individual, one ministry or one government can think otherwise.