Chandhok to replace Trulli in Germany!

Indians rejoice! Karun Chandhok will get his first full race weekend in a Formula 1 car since he last raced for HRT at Silverstone in 2010! The Indian driver was taken on as a reserve driver for Team Lotus earlier on this season and has taken part in four Friday practice sessions for the team since then. All that hard work is finally set to pay off as Chandhok will replace Jarno Trulli in the T128 for this weekend’s German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. This will be the first time Karun is racing on this legendary circuit and as the inaugural Indian Grand Prix inches closer, this could very well be a step towards acclimatising Chandhok to a race weekend before giving him his dream drive at the Indian venue.

“Ever since I first joined the team I have been looking forward to this opportunity and I am determined to do my best to repay their faith in me and help the team progress, this season and for many years to come. “I am approaching the weekend in a very realistic frame of mind. I will be doing my best to push and to make sure I learn as much as possible all weekend, take each session as it comes and work as closely as I can with the engineers and the whole team to do the best job I can. Whatever happens, I am very excited about lining up on the grid on Sunday and I know there will be millions of Indian fans, and Team Lotus fans around the world, who will be behind me and the whole team, so I will do the best I can to give them something to cheer for,” Karun said while speaking about getting back to a race seat for the Nurburgring weekend. 

Jarno Trulli will be on hand to assist Chandhok through the weekend giving him tips both inside and outside the car. Jarno has been having trouble with the T128 this season with complaints about the feedback he is getting from the car’s new power steering system. Heikki Kovalainen has been the man in form at Team Lotus this year though and will race alongside Chandhok. “I’m looking forward to working with Karun this weekend and doing whatever I can to help him get the most out of his opportunity in Germany,” said Trulli. “It’s great that the team is true to its word of helping develop young talent, particularly from parts of the word where it is even harder to break through into the top rung of motorsport, so I’ll be there to give him guidance and assistance, in and out of the car.”

Speaking about the driver switch, Team Lotus Team Principal Tony Fernandes said, “Ever since I first met Karun I have been impressed with his whole demeanour - he is talented, passionate, committed and he brings great energy to the whole team so I am delighted that we are giving him the chance to add even more value to us in the cockpit over a whole race weekend. One of the key goals of Team Lotus is to provide a stepladder to the top of world motorsport for talent from all over the world and we have been true to that philosophy since the first days of the team. For Formula One to continue to develop globally we need to keep creating new opportunities for talent from around the world to reach the top and Team Lotus will continue to do its best to support that.”

So drop whatever you’re doing this weekend and don’t forget to watch the German Grand Prix this Sunday at 17.30 hrs. We know we will be cheering for Chandhok for sure!