Karun Chandhok (born 19 January 1984) is an Indian racing driver and television presenter who last competed in Formula E for Mahindra Racing. Previously, Chandhok has competed for Hispania Racing in Formula One in 2010. Before this, he drove in the GP2 Series for three years, winning two races. In 2013, Chandhok competed in the FIA GT Series for Seyffarth Motorsport.

Karun Chandhok
Chandhok in 2019
NationalityIndia Indian
Born (1984-01-19) 19 January 1984 (age 40)
Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India
Formula E career
Debut season2014–15
Racing licence FIA Gold
Car number5
Former teamsMahindra Racing
Starts11
Championships0
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish17th in 2014–15
Formula One World Championship career
Active years20102011
TeamsHRT, Lotus
Entries11 (11 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last entry2011 German Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years20122015, 2017
TeamsJRM, Murphy Prototypes
Best finish6th (2012)
Class wins0

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. Since leaving F1, Chandhok has served as an analyst, co-commentator and pit-lane reporter for a variety of British broadcasters. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Sky Sports F1 live coverage team.[1]

Chandhok has contributed to several motorsport governing bodies. Since 2021, he has served on the Board of Directors of Motorsport UK, where he has also been a member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.[2] He is also a member of the FIA Driver's Commission.[3]

Early career edit

Chandhok was born in Madras (present-day Chennai), Tamil Nadu and is the son of Vicky Chandhok, multiple Indian rallying champion and president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India since 2003. His younger brother Suhail Chandhok is a commentator for Star Sports India.

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.

GP2 Series edit

 
Chandhok driving for iSport International at the Silverstone round of the 2008 GP2 Series season

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 driving for Ocean Racing Technology at the Monaco round of the 2009 GP2 Series season

Chandhok remained in GP2 for 2008, switching to the iSport International team where he was partnered by Bruno Senna.[4] He won one race and finished tenth in the drivers' championship. He also drove for the team in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series season. Chandhok was presented with the series' "Best Driving Style" award at the end of the season.[5]

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.[6]

Chandhok signed to drive for the Ocean Racing Technology team in the 2009 GP2 Series season.[7] 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.[8] Chandhok amassed ten points in the championship, with a best result of third at Silverstone. He and teammate Álvaro Parente suffered a testing season, with sixteen retirements between them.

Formula One edit

Force India links edit

Chandhok was linked with the Force India team, which was created in 2008. It was an Indian registered-team formerly 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 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 made him an obvious choice.[9]

HRT (2010) edit

 
Chandhok recorded Hispania Racing's first finish with fourteenth position in Australia and beat teammate Bruno Senna at the next race in Malaysia.

Chandhok began the 2010 season driving for Hispania Racing alongside former GP2 teammate Bruno Senna,[10] 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,[11] 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.

Lotus (2011) edit

 
Chandhok as Team Lotus's third driver at the 2011 Italian Grand Prix.

On 22 March 2011, Chandhok was confirmed as a reserve driver at Team Lotus for the 2011 season.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14]

Chandhok was let go by Team Lotus after the Japanese Grand Prix, meaning he could not take part in his home Grand Prix 3 weeks later in India. Tony Fernandes and Chandhok came to a financial settlement, but it was not completed until April 2013.[15]

Endurance Racing: 2012 edit

For 2012, Chandhok drove in the FIA World Endurance Championship for JRM Racing in a Honda Performance Development ARX-03a with co-drivers David Brabham and Peter Dumbreck. At the Le Mans 24 Hours, Chandhok's team finished sixth overall out of the 56 starters.

FIA GT Series: 2013 edit

Chandhok drove in the FIA GT Series for the 2013 season in a last minute deal for Seyffarth Racing. He was joined in the car by Jan Seyffarth, who had been competing in the German GT series for his family run team. Chandhok joined Armaan Ebrahim, who became the first Indian driver to be confirmed in the series.[16][17]

Formula E: 2014–2015 edit

 
Chandhok racing in the 2014 Punta del Este ePrix

In 2014–2015, Chandhok drove the inaugural season of Formula E for Mahindra Racing.[18]

Media career edit

Chandhok has worked for a variety of British broadcasters as part of their coverage of Formula One including the BBC and Channel 4. As of 2021, he works for Sky Sports as an analyst as well as occasional co-commentator and pit-lane reporter. He also appeared on the Channel 5 programme Fifth Gear as a presenter and reporter.

Racing record edit

Career summary edit

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 Formula 3 Championship - National Class T-Sport 25 0 0 1 5 156 6th
2003 British Formula 3 Championship - National Class T-Sport 24 8 7 2 19 314.5 3rd
2004 British Formula 3 Championship 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 Series iSport International 19 1 0 0 3 31 10th
GP2 Asia Series 10 0 0 0 1 7 13th
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 F1 Team 10 0 0 0 0 0 22nd
2011 Formula One Team Lotus 1 0 0 0 0 0 28th
2012 FIA World Endurance Championship JRM 8 0 0 0 0 50.5 10th
2013 FIA GT Series Seyffarth Motorsport 8 0 0 1 0 32 13th
Vita4one Racing Team 2 0 0 0 0
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Murphy Prototypes 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th
2014 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Murphy Prototypes 2 0 0 0 0 4 24th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
2014–15 Formula E Mahindra Racing 11 0 0 0 0 18 17th
2015 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Murphy Prototypes 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th
2016 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Murphy Prototypes 1 0 0 0 0 4 31st
2017 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Tockwith Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 9th
British LMP3 Cup T-Sport 2 0 0 0 1 27 10th

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results edit

(key)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points
2005 RC Motorsport ZOL
1

13
ZOL
1

11
MON
1

Ret
VAL
1

16
VAL
2

Ret
LMS
1

DNS
LMS
2

DNS
BIL
1
BIL
2
OSC
1
OSC
2
DON
1
DON
2
EST
1
EST
2
MNZ
1
MNZ
2
29th 0

Complete A1 Grand Prix results edit

(key)

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

Complete GP2 Series results edit

(key) (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
CAT
FEA

Ret
CAT
SPR

15
MON
FEA

Ret
MAG
FEA

Ret
MAG
SPR

16
SIL
FEA

12
SIL
SPR

13
NÜR
FEA

Ret
NÜR
SPR

16
HUN
FEA

14
HUN
SPR

15†
IST
FEA

8
IST
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

5
MNZ
SPR

6
SPA
FEA

7
SPA
SPR

1
VAL
FEA

17
VAL
SPR

Ret
15th 16
2008 iSport International CAT
FEA

9
CAT
SPR

Ret
IST
FEA

4
IST
SPR

12
MON
FEA

3
MON
SPR

Ret
MAG
FEA

7
MAG
SPR

Ret
SIL
FEA

3
SIL
SPR

Ret
HOC
FEA

8
HOC
SPR

1
HUN
FEA

4
HUN
SPR

DNS
VAL
FEA

15†
VAL
SPR

Ret
SPA
FEA

10
SPA
SPR

7
MNZ
FEA

11
MNZ
SPR

Ret
10th 31
2009 Ocean Racing Technology CAT
FEA

Ret
CAT
SPR

Ret
MON
FEA

7
MON
SPR

Ret
IST
FEA

13
IST
SPR

14
SIL
FEA

6
SIL
SPR

3
NÜR
FEA

11
NÜR
SPR

Ret
HUN
FEA

17†
HUN
SPR

10
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

6
SPA
FEA

Ret
SPA
SPR

7
MNZ
FEA

19†
MNZ
SPR

12
ALG
FEA

Ret
ALG
SPR

13
18th 10

Complete GP2 Asia Series results edit

(key)

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
SEN
FEA

Ret
SEN
SPR

13
SEP
FEA

Ret
SEP
SPR

7
BHR
FEA

8
BHR
SPR

Ret
DUB2
FEA

Ret
DUB2
SPR

Ret
13th 7
2008–09 Ocean Racing Technology SHI
FEA
SHI
SPR
DUB
FEA
DUB
SPR
BHR1
FEA
BHR1
SPR
LSL
FEA
LSL
SPR
SEP
FEA
SEP
SPR
BHR2
FEA

9
BHR2
SPR

Ret
26th 0

Complete Formula One results edit

(key)

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

Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the race distance.

24 Hours of Le Mans results edit

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2012   JRM   David Brabham
  Peter Dumbreck
HPD ARX-03a LMP1 357 6th 6th
2013   Murphy Prototypes   Brendon Hartley
  Mark Patterson
Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 319 12th 6th
2014   Murphy Prototypes   Nathanaël Berthon
  Rodolfo González
Oreca 03R-Nissan LMP2 73 DNF DNF
2015   Murphy Prototypes   Nathanaël Berthon
  Mark Patterson
Oreca 03R-Nissan LMP2 347 13th 5th
2017   Tockwith Motorsports   Philip Hanson
  Nigel Moore
Ligier JS P217-Gibson LMP2 351 11th 9th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results edit

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
2012 JRM LMP1 HPD ARX-03 Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8 SEB
12
SPA
9
LMS
5
SIL
7
SAO
7
BHR
Ret
FUJ
5
SHA
5
10th 50.5

Complete FIA GT Series results edit

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Points
2013 Seyffarth Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Pro NOG
QR

6
NOG
CR

10
ZOL
QR

10
ZOL
CR

DNS
ZAN
QR

8
ZAN
CR

4
SVK
QR

Ret
SVK
CR

10
13th 32
Vita4one Racing Team BMW Z4 GT3 NAV
QR

12
NAV
CR

Ret
BAK
QR
BAK
CR

Complete Formula E results edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Points
2014–15 Mahindra Racing Spark SRT01-e SRT01-e BEI
5
PUT
6
PDE
13
BUE
Ret
MIA
14
LBH
12
MCO
13
BER
18
MSC
12
LDN
12
LDN
13
17th 18

Complete European Le Mans Series results edit

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2014 Murphy Prototypes LMP2 Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
8
IMO
Ret
RBR LEC EST 25th 4
2016 Murphy Prototypes LMP2 Oreca 03R Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL IMO RBR
8
LEC SPA EST 31st 4

References edit

  1. ^ "Karun Chandhok returns to Sky Sports F1 team in 2019". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Karun Chandhok joins Motorsport UK Board". Motorsport UK. 16 June 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Sporting Commissions Composition". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Chandhok and Senna sign for iSport". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  5. ^ "Chandhok wins Best Driving Style award". Motorsport.com. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  6. ^ "Chandhok receives BRDC invite". crash.net. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  7. ^ "ORT sign Chandhok for main series". autosport.com. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
  8. ^ "Nunes leads a Piquet GP 1–2 podium finish as Kobayashi takes title". AutomobilSport. MaP. 25 April 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  9. ^ Noble, Jonathan (11 June 2010). "Chandhok targets Force India seat". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  10. ^ Noble, Jonathan (4 March 2010). "Chandhok announced as HRT driver". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  11. ^ Straw, Edd (13 March 2010). "Chandhok: Qualifying was a shakedown". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  12. ^ "Karun Chandhok named as Team Lotus reserve". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  13. ^ Benson, Andrew (21 July 2011). "Karun Chandhok replaces Jarno Trulli for German GP". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  14. ^ Bear, Matt (24 July 2011). "Lewis Hamilton wins thrilling German Grand Prix". Autosport. Haymarket. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  15. ^ James Elson (12 August 2021). "Karun Chandhok on his nightmare year at Lotus: 'I fell out of love with F1'". Motorsport Magazine.
  16. ^ "Chandhok confirmed for GT1 World Series". The Hindu. 25 March 2013.
  17. ^ "Nogaro FIA GT Series Entry List 2013". Automobilsport.com. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  18. ^ Prasad, Vishnu (29 November 2013). "Karun Sparks on Mahindra Radar". The New Indian Express. Express Publications (Madurai) Limited. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2015.

External links edit

Sporting positions
Preceded by Formula Maruti
Champion

2000
Succeeded by
?
Preceded by
Ng Wai-Leong
Formula 2000 Asia
Champion

2001
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Inaugural
Formula V6 Asia
Champion

2006
Succeeded by