Karun Chandhok raised a number of eyebrows in Valencia on Wednesday by arriving in the pit lane clad in Team Lotus apparel. Although the former Hispania Racing driver is not yet signed as the Norfolk squad’s reserve driver, the position does remain his current goal, as GPUpdate.net’s Gregory Haines found out.
Karun, turning up here as a guest of Team Lotus - you must have known what was going to happen in the press…
I just felt like some Paella and some Nasi Lemak at the same time! No, Tony (Fernandes, Team Principal) just said it was an easy place to meet with him and Mike (Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer) this week so, yeah, just to come and have a look.
Obviously what has happened is that there’s plenty of rumours linking you to the team’s third driver spot, but that is not confirmed yet. Is that what you’re looking to achieve here?
I’ve made it no secret for a long time but, as I’ve said all along, it has to be a long-term plan. Obviously I want to race in Formula 1 and if a test or reserve driver role leads to being back to racing full-time, a bit like Bruno (Senna, now with Lotus Renault GP), then that’s the way to go, but also there’s various circumstances that you have to think of.
So what would be your ideal situation now, personally? To be back racing by as early as next year?
That’s between Tony and me! When the time comes we’ll let you know. Obviously I know right now that there’s no race seat available this year, which is fine, but I’d still like to get some experience and some mileage. There’s a some great guys in this team, Mike and guys with a lot of experience, so not a bad option but there’s also lots of other teams which have good options, so we’ll wait and see – we’ll have to see what’s good for everybody.
Obviously, you’re only here as a guest at the moment, but what is your opinion on the Lotus team names situation?
I don’t care, it makes no difference to me. That’s someone else’s battle. I think the catering is very good!
Finally, will you be heard as part of the BBC Radio 5 live commentary team again this year?
They want me to and so to Star Sports and a few other things, but the priority is something in the car. It depends how bored I get…I was bored out of my brains on Friday and I called Crofty (David Croft, 5 live radio commentator) before shooting myself in the head.
You’re not suggesting Crofty and (Anthony) Davidson are boring, are you?
No no no! I joined them because I was bored doing nothing else!
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
Karun Chandhok
Other
Get your official Formula 1 tickets at Sportstadium.com
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  F. Alonso | 01:13.307 | 108 |
| 2. | S. Vettel | 01:13.614 | 43 |
| 3. | P. di Resta | 01:13.844 | 111 |
| 4. | L. Hamilton | 01:14.353 | 83 |
| 5. | R. Kubica | 01:14.412 | 104 |
| 6. | N. Rosberg | 01:14.645 | 69 |
| 7. | T. Glock | 01:15.408 | 34 |
| 8. | R. Barrichello | 01:16.023 | 50 |
| 9. | S. Perez | 01:16.198 | 42 |
| 10. | P. Maldonado | 01:16.266 | 29 |
| Full results | |||
| Karun Chandhok | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More Karun Chandhok photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
