Will Chandhok gain points in his first F1 season?

Karun Chandhok has become the second Indian to get a Formula 1 seat as he has been signed for by the Campos F1 team for the 2010 season. Chandhok will partner Bruno Senna, the nephew of the late F1 legend Ayrton Senna.

The first race of the 2010 season takes place this Sunday at Bahrain, and Chandhok knows that it will be the toughest challenge of his life in the cockpit. He has not had many practice sessions in his HRT F1, nor was the car tested at pre season testing at Barcelona. "The first weekend's going to be very tough I think," Chandhok said, "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."

"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." he added. Chandhok's HRT F1 will receive new parts ahead of the first European race in Spain in May. Chandhok follows Narain Karthikeyan, who was the first Indian in Formula One when he drove for the Jordan team in 2005. "I've never ever wanted to do anything else, ever since I was a kid and three or four 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.

"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. They hear the words but it doesn't actually sink in how difficult it is going to be. Bruno and I were sat there at dinner the other night discussing exactly the same thing," he said, "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. 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. 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 I think that's normal for any driver who's been dropped into the sort of situation that we are in."

Chandhok was the youngest ever Asian Formula Champion driving for "Team India Racing". Chandhok was linked with the Force India team, but the team's test driver, Vitantonio Liuzzi, was instead promoted to the race seat.In 2001 Chandhok was presented with the award for the "Most promising Asian driver of the year". The following year he came 6th in the British Formula Three National class and finished 3rd in 2003. In 2006 he was the historic champion of the first ever Formula Asia V6 by Renault Championship with 7 race wins and 9 pole positions from 12 races.