Thats the problem with these lower rung teams, they don’t hire the drivers for their skills, just for the amount of money they bring in.

For those who are a little out of touch, earlier Bruno Senna had been dropped to make way for Sakun Yamamoto, however now Senna has his seat back and its time to kick Karun out of the picture.

Meanwhile Chandhok has expressed hope that he will race again :

“I expect to be back for races later in the year,” Chandhok was quoted 

“At the moment we are talking only about Hockenheim but with four drivers and two cars, it is probably inevitable I will miss some more races.

“I came into this team looking to establish myself as a credible, respectable formula one driver and I’ve done that.” said the Indian

In the talk about the Red Bulls, the Ferraris, the McLarens and the Mercedes cars, we often forget about the smaller teams who have big plans. 3 years ago people called Vijay Mallya a fool for dreaming up a podium in 2010, not such a big fool now is he ? The big teams are equally arrogant as well, take the Red Bull formula one team for example, they don’t think formula one bloggers need media access and dont even have the courtesy to reply to requests, same is the case with the Virgin F1 team which we don’t even cover due to their attitude.

The Hispania HRT F1 team has the potential to be the next dark horse in the amazingly unpredictable sport of formula one. Under the stable leadership of Collin Kolles the team has the right kind of expertise needed to deliver a competitive car.

The budget is a little shaky and therefore they had to take 2 inexperienced drivers in the form of Brazilian Bruno Senna and Indian Karun Chandhok as both of them seem to have brought sponsors with them.

Anyway, the team was looking forward to another 2 car finish at the Spanish Grand Prix but fate had something else written out for them. Karun lost out on a collision with Alguersuari for which Alguersuari had to face a drive through penalty and Senna just plain crashed on the 4th lap:P

The team now looks forward to a good GP at Monaco, team principal Collin Kolles had this to say :

“I am disappointed that we didn’t finish our home race. It’s a real pity because both drivers had good starts. Bruno Senna had to stop on the opening lap despite a very strong start which moved him up to 17th from 21st on the grid. Karun Chandhok was similarly strong and had a very good pace but retired mid-race after contact with Alguersuari. At least, the performance was much better than in Qualifying yesterday. Now, we look ahead to next weekend and are determined to have a good result in Monaco.”

Karun Chandhok commented:

“I am very disappointed with the outcome of the race. It’s a real shame what happened with Jaime. I stayed out of his way, kept the car completely straight and he just turned left into me. I was really pleased with my race until then. ‎I had a good first lap and was trying to be sensible with the option tyre and get them to last. My pace relative to the other new cars was good and I was pulling away from Di Grassi quite comfortably. In the end, although we changed the front wing, the damage to the front right suspension was too much and I had to stop. It is a disappointing end to a good day for the team.”

“I am pleased with what Senna and Chandhok have done,” Collin Kolles said.

“But it’s useless to deny that their lack of F1 experience is a disadvantage at this point.”

The team now looks forward to their home grand prix in Spain at Barcelone where they would be unveiling their new challenger. Both the drivers and the team principal Colin Kolles seem confident of taking their team forward at Barcelona and sounded upbeat in pre-race interviews released by the team on their website.

Team Principal Dr Colin Kolles commented:

“We reached our next goal with our two cars making it to the finish again in China on our fourth ever race weekend. We have used the time since China to work on the car and to introduce new parts. We hope to understand the car better and need to improve the performance as well as hit a new target and finish again with both cars.”

Karun Chandhok commented:

“I am looking forward to racing again after the extended break. I really enjoy driving here as the circuit is a real challenge with a complete mix of high speed and slower technical sections. Unlike the other teams we did not have a chance to test the car in the pre-season but we have couple of updates for the car this weekend that should give us a clearer picture for the season ahead. The team is highly motivated for our home race and together we are looking forward to developing the car for the rest of the season. „

Bruno Senna commented:

“I’m looking forward to the Spanish Grand Prix. Barcelona is one of my favorite tracks and I have a good record on it and good memories. I completed my first F1 test here with Honda. And prior to that, every time I raced in Montmelo, I won or I was on the
podium. I am certain that I will enjoy Barcelona again although it is a very physical track with high speed corners where it is hard to find the perfect lap. The newly introduced last chicane is also very technical. So let’s build on our past results.”

The German Red Bull F1 driver Sebastien Vettel edged Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso to grab the first pole of the 2010 season. Seven time formula one world champion Michael Schumacher who is returning to the track after a sabbatical was seventh in the qualifying with his team-mate Nice Rosberg doing better at 5th place. Vettel’s team-mate was 6th.

Ferrari were the team with most consistent performance in practice and qualifying alike, it seems that this season they might very well be the team to beat, but its still to early to tell.

Newcomer teams like Lotus F1 and HRT F1 (Campos Meta) struggled to make their mark. Some of their times were beyond 2 minutes with Indian rookie Karun Chandhok bringing up the rear for the grid in his HRT F1 car.

Sorry for no qualifying review, but tomorrow, I have an interview with the one of the best schools in India and I wish to get in

In what is surely going to make the day of any Indian Karun Chandhok has been chosen to represent the Campos Meta F1 team or the newly rechristened name HRT F1 team. Karun Chandhok will be racing besides Bruno Senna nephew of the great Ayrton Senna.

We will be able to see him racing in Bahrain !

It is interesting to note that it is Colin Kolles who is giving Karun Chandhok this chance of a lifetime. He was formerly associated with the Kingfisher Force India F1 team, earlier also he had given the Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan a chance with the Russian Midland formula one team. It looks like he has a certain fancy for Indian drivers. He replaces Adrian Campos in the Campos F1 outfit.

It may be noted that HRT F1 team is not really expected to do well in F1 , they are cash strapped at this point.

People in Europe and Americas are probably unaware of the kind of outrage that Vijay Mallya’s comments have caused in India’s formula one fans.

I really admire Vijay Mallya, mainly for the fact that he has brought India on the world map in a large number of places, liquor being 1. But formula one is not one of them. Narain Karthikeyan was the Indian who had brought India to the world stage in formula one. His sponsors like JK Tyre and TATA were the ones who put India on the formula one map not Kingfisher, not Vijay Mallya.

Narain Karthikeyan became the first Indian driver in formula one, he was a test driver for Williams. Even in the defunct Jordans, he drove his heart out. Steve Slater and Chris Goodwin praised his guts and moves. The kind of aggression he showed in racing was praised by all. Michael Schumacher, Emerson Fittpaldi and Tiago Monteiro (his teammate) all praised his guts.

Then along came Mr. Mallya, bought over a defunct formula one outfit and named it after India. That was good, but his comments about Indian drivers was uncalled for. Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan are good drivers, better than if not as good as Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella. Both of them have WON races at every stage of racing they have competed in and are very much competitive when pitted against the best of drivers.

Mr. Mallya’s obsession with glamour and foreigners is not appreciated by this formula one fan. I would much rather have one of the Ambanis or the TATAs in formula one.

Fisichella signed up for Force India formula one ? – Rumours are that Force India supremo Vijay Mallya has signed up Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella for the 2008 formula one season dashing Christian Klien’s and Ralf Schumacher’s hopes. The other seat has already been almost confirmed for Adrian Sutil with everyone from Team Principal to Mallya rooting for him.

Sponsors follow Fernando Alonso back to Renault – In what seems to be another setback to the already in trouble McLaren formula one team, Spanish sponsors Mutua Madrilena will be hooking up with the Renault F1 team again as the Spaniard Fernando Alonso looks set to regain his crown with the French outfit.

Karun Chandhok to drive alongside Bruno Senna in GP2 – Karun Chandhok says goodbye to Durango GP2 team and says hello to iSport , the team is Timo Glock’s ex (i think), he will be driving alongside Ayrton Senna’s nephew Bruno Senna. iSport is a top team in the GP2 lineup and Karun will be hoping for a lot of podiums this season.

Luca di Montezemolo makes some interesting comments

The Ferrari president was absolutely furious with McLaren following their admission to cheating and using confidential Ferrari data in their own cars.

“I’m convinced that at least the colours of the two cars will be different. I don’t expect a red McLaren,” he said
“It’s better if we talk about something else;” the Italian added.

Vijay Mallya owned Force India F1, (previously Spyker) announced their driver lineup for testing today. These drivers will be testing alongside Adrian Sutil and include Dutch test driver Giedo van der Garde and Spaniard Roldan Rodriguez. Vitantonio Liuzzi and Christian Klien will also try to impress the team topshots to get a place in the 2008 formula one grid.

Vijay Mallya had commented this earlier

“We need a driver of some calibre to also improve the performance of the team, we can’t have rookies only,” he said.

“For better performance, I need a proven driver.”

“He is coming up with significant sponsor money but he must get a super licence first,” he said about Rodriguez.

Meanwhile Indian Karun Chandhok after winning a GP2 race might be looking at a seat in the F1 racing grid. He just got a test with the Red Bull team and will be looking to make the most of it.