Question: Karun, you’ve finally made it to Formula One racing. How do you feel?
Karun Chandhok: It’s just an unbelievable feeling! I am absolutely thrilled to be able to fulfil a lifelong dream to break into Formula One. We’ve been working for so many years for this opportunity, and now that we’ve finally made it, it feels a bit surreal to be honest. I think it will only fully sink in that I am going to be on the same grid as world champions like Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso when I get to Bahrain.
Question: The team has started from scratch and has signed two rookie drivers. It looks like it could be a difficult mission. Are you ready for the challenge?
Karun Chandhok: I am under no illusions about what we’re in for. At the end of the day, we will be a new team with two rookies and no testing at all, so the first few races will be very hard indeed. The team have some very good engineers and designers and Mr Carabante seems very committed, so as the season progresses I’m optimistic we can be in better shape. But certainly the first part will be all about getting reliability and mileage.
Question: You competed with your new team mate Bruno Senna in GP2, but what the team needs is for you two to work closely together…
Karun Chandhok: Yes, in fact I think we’re ideal for that. It’s rare for team mates to be friends, but Bruno and I get along very well. He and his family are great people and we’re both mature enough to deal with the pressures. At iSport we had a great working relationship with the engineers, so I think we can carry that on this year. We always had a similar style and similar requirements from the car, which is good for the engineers as they can carry out parallel programs.
Question: There are just days to go until the Bahrain Grand Prix and the car hasn’t been on track yet…
Karun Chandhok: Well the first race will just be like a test session. Colin works more hours than most people I know and he has done an amazing job to get Dallara, Cosworth and all the people involved to work like mad and get the car ready for Bahrain. There will be problems - even the established top teams have problems during shakedowns - and our shakedown will be the first practice session on Friday, but we have to stay optimistic and battle through the first few races, before we start to see some solid results.
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