Karun Chandhok

Karun Chandhok
கருண் சந்தோக்
Chandhok in 2019
Born	(1984-01-19) 19 January 1984 Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Spouse	Akshara Kothari ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	2
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Indian
Active years	2010–2011
Teams	HRT, Team Lotus
Entries	11 (11 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last entry	2011 German Grand Prix
Formula E career
Racing licence	FIA Gold
Years active	2014–15
Teams	Mahindra
Car number	5
Starts	11
Championships	0
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	17th in 2014–15
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2012–2015, 2017
Teams	JRM, Murphy, Ligier
Best finish	6th (2012)
Class wins	0

Karun Chandhok (Tamil: கருண் சந்தோக்; born 19 January 1984) is an Indian former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One at 11 Grands Prix from 2010 to 2011.

Chandhok also 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.

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.

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. He is also a member of the FIA Driver's Commission.

Early career

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

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.

Chandhok 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. 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.

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.

Chandhok signed to drive for the Ocean Racing Technology team in the 2009 GP2 Series season. 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. 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

Force India links

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.

HRT (2010)

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, 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, 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)

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. 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. 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.

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.

Endurance Racing: 2012

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

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.

Formula E: 2014–2015

Chandhok racing in the 2014 Punta del Este ePrix

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

Media career

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

Career summary

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 British Formula Three Championship results

(key)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	Pos	Points
2002	T-Sport	Dallara F301	Mugen-Honda	Scholarship	BRH1 1 21	BRH1 2 19	DON1 1 Ret	DON1 2 14	SIL1 1 13	SIL1 2 19	KNO 1 Ret	KNO 2 16	CRO 1 15	CRO 2 C	SIL2 1 12	SIL2 2 20	CAS 1 Ret	CAS 2 Ret	BRH2 1 DNS	BRH2 2 12	ROC 1 13	ROC 2 17	OUL 1 Ret	OUL 2 20	SNE 1 13	SNE 2 Ret	SNE 3 Ret	THR 1 Ret	THR 2 17	DON2 1 Ret	DON2 2 14	6th	156
2003	T-Sport	Dallara F301	Mugen-Honda	Scholarship	DON1 1 10	DON1 2 18	SNE 1 13	SNE 2 15	CRO 1 15	CRO 2 Ret	KNO 1 15	KNO 2 Ret	SIL 1 8	SIL 2 14	CAS 1 Ret	CAS 2 20	OUL 1 14	OUL 2 12	ROC 1 12	ROC 2 10	THR 1 11	THR 2 14	SPA 1 21	SPA 2 18	DON2 1 Ret	DON2 2 14	BRH 1 18	BRH 2 15				3rd	314.5
2004	T-Sport	Dallara F304	Mugen-Honda	Championship	DON1 1 11	DON1 2 11	SIL1 1 14	SIL1 2 C	CRO 1 8	CRO 2 5	KNO 1 6	KNO 2 5	SNE 1 14	SNE 2 Ret	SNE 3 Ret	CAS 1 Ret	CAS 2 9	DON1 1 4	DON1 2 Ret	OUL 1 Ret	OUL 2 DNS	SIL2 1 13	SIL2 2 Ret	THR 1	THR 2	SPA 1	SPA 2	BRH 1	BRH 2			14th	37

Complete World Series by Nissan results

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Points
2004	Tata RC Motorsport	JAR 1	JAR 2	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	MAG 1	MAG 2	VAL 1	VAL 2	LAU 1	LAU 2	EST 1	EST 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	VAL 1 Ret	VAL 2 13	JER 1 8	JER 2 4	16th	11

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(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

(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 Formula V6 Asia by Renault results

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos	Points
2006	Team E-Rain	SEP1 1 1	SEP1 2 Ret	SEP2 1 3	SEP2 2 3	SEN 1 1	SEN 2 Ret	ZHU1 1 1	ZHU1 2 1	ZHU2 1 1	ZHU2 2 1	ZHU2 3 1	ZHU2 4 Ret	1st	131

Complete GP2 Series results

(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

(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

(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

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	Phil Hanson Nigel Moore	Ligier JS P217-Gibson	LMP2	351	11th	9th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

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

(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

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

External links

• Official website
• Karun Chandhok career summary at DriverDB.com