F1: Chandhok Confirmed At New HRT Team

Formula 1

F1: Chandhok Confirmed At New HRT Team

Karun Chandhok will be teammate to Bruno Senna at the new HRT outfit...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted March 04, 2010 Balen (BEL)

Prior to his GP2 career, Karun Chandhok was also a Formula Renault V6 Asia champion in 2006 and has raced in the A1 Grand Prix series, as well as tested for the Red Bull F1 team. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The new HRT team has confirmed that Karun Chandhok will make his debut in the Bahrain GP, alongside Bruno Senna. The pair were team mates in the iSport GP2 outfit two years ago.

He becomes the second Indian driver to reach the top level of the sport after Narain Karthikeyan, who drove for current HRT boss Colin Kolles at Jordan in 2005.

The car itself is being unveiled today in Murcia, which will eventually be the home of the team. The Dallara-built cars will be HRT-Cosworths.

"I am very pleased to use the Murcia site to officially unveil our car livery today that reflects the Murcia identity," said Colin Kolles. "We also complete the driver's team line up with the Indian Karun Chandhok at the wheel of the car for our first ever season. We have been very impressed with Karun's performance in GP2. India is a great country. It will be great for the sport to have an Indian driver on the grid for the first Indian Grand Prix. Murcia is part of the roots of the team.

"Everything is now in place after an impossible race against time to register the team's name and I truly believe that we have an excellent platform to build on and move forward for a strong 2010 performance. Now, we need to work together. We need to learn together and keep developing as a team."

Team chairman Jose Ramon Carabantes said: “The new HRT F1 Team, 'Hispania Racing F1 Team', is born in Murcia. I am proud to welcome you in Murcia where the team has its roots and to have given to my country the pride of the first ever Spanish Formula 1 team.

"The name of the team contains the word Hispania, which is not only the name of one of my companies, but Hispania was also the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. That reflects now our team's new identity. 2010 will be a major debut for the team and drivers at the wheel of our HRT F1 Team, car."

Adam Cooper notched up his 25th season as a racing journalist in 2009. Born in London, England, he saw his first F1 race at age 10 in 1976. He began freelancing for Autosport magazine in 1985 and was on the fulltime staff from 1987-92. He then went freelance again, initially spending two years in Japan before following the 1994 Champcar series from a base in Indianapolis. He has not missed a Grand Prix since Suzuka ‘94, a run that has extended to Abu Dhabi ’09. Adam has written books about Eddie Irvine, Piers Courage and Michael Schumacher and hosts a race preview show on Sirius XM. He has written about F1 for SPEEDtv.com since 2005. Check out Adam's Blog or follow him on Twitter

Tunnelheads, Pick Your Starters! Win Weekly! Win Monthly! Win The Championship!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam Cooper

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR

F1: No Interest In Taking Over Lola, Says Caterham
A Caterham spokesman says the team is not planning to buy the troubled…
F1: Sauber CEO Kaltenborn Handed One-Third Of Team
Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn now owns a one-third stake in the Sauber…
F1: Race Car Maker Lola Hits Financial Crisis
Legendary racing car manufacturer Lola is in financial trouble...…