When Karun Chandhok was appointed an F1 driver on
March 4, barely 10 days before the start of the 2010 Formula 1 season, it was just the final act in a racing saga involving financial strife, marketing savvy, and an old friendship between billionaire F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and the Chandhoks. Rishikesh Ramachandran brings you the untold story behind the rise of the newest entrant in F1, Hispania Racing Team, and how Karun became its driver.
In early 2009, the Indian ministry of youth affairs and sport vetoed a request by JPSK Sports, promoters of the 2011 Formula 1 grand prix in India, to pay Formula One Administration $ 36.5 million, on the grounds that Formula 1 is not a sport but “entertainment” that was fundamentally a “commercial initiative.” It argued that India does not need F1 and that the same money could be spent on other sports which would be more relevant to the general population. Thankfully, better sense prevailed in the subsequent months and construction of the race track is now under way in Noida, and India is well on its way to hosting the inaugural F1 race in the subcontinent next year.
However, if the ministry officials had taken the trouble to evaluate the true value of the sport to the country, it would have been surprised to discover that it is a highly globalised business, and that India’s association with Formula 1 goes much beyond the solitary F1 track near Delhi.
Since Narain Karthikeyan secured his F1 drive in 2005, India’s presence in the sport has been rapidly expanding: from firms in Bangalore supplying new technologies to F1 teams, to a noticeable contingent of qualified Indian mechanics working in F1 pit garages, to sponsors such as Tata and JK Tyre who have been involved in the sport for a number of years to, of course, the Force India F1 Team coming of age and figuring as a competitive mid-field team in F1 this year.
So it comes as no surprise that the latest milestone in India’s relatively brief foray into the sport has been the arrival of Karun Chandhok on the 2010 F1 grid with Hispania Racing Team (HRT).
The ups and downs
It has been a long journey for the 26-year-old from Chennai. Born into the first family of motorsports in India (Karun’s father Vicky Chandhok and grandfather Indu Chandhok are both accomplished motorsports personalities in India), Karun’s first taste of success in the big league came in the year 2000 when he became the National Racing Champion while racing in Formula Maruti saloon cars. Back then, apart from winning 7 out of 10 races, he had the rare distinction of starting all 10 races in pole position, as well as setting the fastest laps in all 10 races — a record that remains unbeaten to this day.
Since then, he has gone on to attain more glory at the international level:he was Formula 2000 Asia champion in 2001, Formula Asia V6 Renault Champion in 2006, and had race wins in GP2 series (the feeder series to F1) during 2007-08.
While the above are just some of the ups in his 10-year racing career, Karun has also had his share of downs — most notably, his lacklustre period in GP2 for three years, from 2007-09, during which he only had two race wins. The reasons for this were many, including frequent change of teams (three teams in 3 years), and reliability issues with the car in last year’s GP2, when he drove for a newly formed team called Ocean Racing Technology.
Karun has had his eye firmly on Formula 1 ever since Bernie Ecclestone, the billionaire boss of F1 with whom the Chandhoks are friends, helped him secure his first GP2 drive with team Durango for 2007. But it has not been an easy ride since then. He has often had to fall back on his drive, determination and dedication to the sport to carry him into the world of F1.Says Ingo Matter, Team Manager at Team E-Rain, for which Karun drove in 2006, “Karun had a lot of bad luck in GP2, being with a new team where he didn’t have a reliable car. Otherwise he would have done well. But then Karun’s the sort of guy who pulls himself together and gets on with the job.”
Bernie’s boy
Apart from the above qualities, being on Ecclestone’s radar has come to Karun’s aid on more than one occasion. It is no secret that Bernie had been trying, for at least a couple of years, to secure an F1 drive for Karun. And it is also no secret that, the astute businessman that Bernie is, he has his sights set on bringing F1 to India in 2011 and gain access to the captive millions in the Indian TV audience. Recent estimates put the television eyeballs for the sport in India at approximately 68 million viewers, a two-fold growth spurred to a large extent by Force India’s arrival in F1 back in 2007, when it was reported to be around 35 million viewers. This effectively makes F1 the second biggest TV sport in India, after cricket and certainly ahead of football, tennis and hockey.
But then F1, after all, is part sport-part entertainment. It is a multi-billion dollar industry, with the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) and Formula One Administration being the key influencer and beneficiary, respectively. And what better catalyst than an Indian driver by the time the Indian F1 grand prix kicks off in Delhi in 2011? Needless to mention, we already have an Indian team, courtesy Force India.
Indeed, when the Force India team had a vacant seat last year following their lead driver Giancarlo Fisichella’s move to Ferrari, Ecclestone had publicly said that it would be good for Karun to get a seat in the team.
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