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London. Karun Chandhok, India’s sole Formula One driver, has no illusions about what awaits him over the weekend when he makes his debut barely a week after signing a contract.

His new Spain-based HRT team, formerly Campos Meta, has not even conducted a shakedown test of their Cosworth-powered car after narrowly winning a race just to get it ready for the Bahrain season-opener.

“The first weekend’s going to be very tough, I think,” Chandhok said in a telephone interview moments after a morning workout in the gym on the day before he flies to Manama.

“Really, if we can finish the race that will be a serious achievement.

“For me personally, it’s going to be more an extended test session really, to just gain as much experience as possible for the team,” added the Chennai-born 26-year-old, a race winner in the GP2 support series in 2008.

“I think Melbourne [the second race in Australia] might be a case of a bit more of the same, and then hopefully once we get to Malaysia, then we can start to make progress in terms of performance.”

There is also an update planned for the first European race in Spain in May.

Chandhok, whose father, Vicky, is a senior figure in Indian motorsport, will join Brazilian Bruno Senna at the team run by ex-Jordan, Midland, Spyker and Force India boss Colin Kolles.

The two drivers were friends and teammates in GP2 when Senna, nephew of the late triple champion Ayrton, finished runner-up overall.

Chandhok, the first Indian F1 driver since Narain Karthikeyan in 2005, said he expected his debut to be very special.

“I’ve never, ever wanted to do anything else, ever since I was a kid and 3 or 4 years old,” he said.

“I was there as a huge Alain Prost fan in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and then I was there with my Michael Schumacher hat and T-shirt in the ’90s hoping Damon Hill would spin off.

“It’s going to be a bit strange to be on the grid with Michael now, but I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet,” he added of the seven-time world champion, who is returning with Mercedes at the age of 41.

Managing expectations at home might be harder.

“It’s going to be tough because, while there is a fan following, it’s not yet a knowledgeable fan following,” Chandhok said.

“We’ve done the best we can to try and manage expectations with the people out there.

“A lot of people don’t understand the sport, even within my own family, and what the enormity of the task is when you have to start with a brand new team and no testing,” he added.

Chandhok said HRT had a “decent” package of spares for Bahrain, but performance was an unknown. Two other new teams, Lotus and Virgin, were more than five seconds off the pace in preseason tests.

“Bruno and I sat there at dinner the other night discussing exactly the same thing,” Chandhok said when asked how far adrift he expected the Dallara-built HRT car to be.

“Until Friday night, we’re not going to know where we really stand. Right now, it’s all just guessing. Until we get to Friday and actually run the car, it can all mean anything.”

Chandhok talked to the now-absent USF1 team, even visiting its North Carolina headquarters, as well as Virgin and Lotus, but had to wait until Kolles led a late rescue of the failing Campos outfit.

With a one-year contract — plus options on both sides — announced only last Thursday, Chandhok has plenty of work to do.

“I have been optimistic that something would happen in Formula One since probably August or September last year, so I’ve spent the winter preparing as much as I can,” he said.

“In terms of fitness level, I feel quite comfortable, but I am sure the first few races are going to be very hard, especially for the neck.

“I expect to have a few issues, but that’s normal for any driver who’s been dropped into the sort of situation that we are in.”



Reuters