New Delhi: After India got the nod on Wednesday to host its first formula one race in October next year, CNN-IBN talked exclusively to Karun Chandhok - who drives for Hispania Racing F1 team in formula one - and found his reaction to the news.
CNN-IBN: Great news for India, We are finally on the F1 map?
Karun Chandhok: Great to hear that. It's been officially announced today and now it would give everyone in the country a sense of reality that indeed we are going to host the World Championship.
CNN-IBN: As the race is just a year away and since you have been closely associated with the project, can you tell us anything about the exact progress of the project?
Karun Chandhok: We have been talking about it for a long time now. In fact, all along we have been saying that we will have a race in 2011. But for some reason there were a lot of doubts. But, now since FIA has officially put it on the calendar, so hopefully those doubts will disappear. Since, I have been a consultant of the project and have been visiting the site on and off for the last six months, I think the JP group has done a fantastic job. They hired the best circuit designer in the world and they have done a fantastic job so far.
CNN-IBN: How big it will be for sports itself in India?
Karun Chandhok: It's going to be a huge thing for us in India. There is an interest in formula one all along. We have great press coverage for my racing programme this year. A lot of Indian people have been traveling to Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and now they all will get a chance to see the race in their own country.
CNN-IBN: Formula one is something that requires a lot of preparation and doubts do crop up in our minds as we're witness to the ongoing preparations for the Commonwealth Games. How well the preparation has been for this?
Karun Chandhok: You have to think of two different things here; firstly it's a private project. So less number of people are involved and so less delay in terms of decision-making is involved. Secondly, Commonwealth Games are a huge undertaking. You have got events at multiple venues, while in F1 it is all centralised on a single race track, so there are few fundamental differences between the two events. There has been a lot of talk about the games, so I can see the question mark over the Grand Prix as well. But it is a completely different project, and the set of people handling the project is also completely different. So far the progress has been on schedule and the circuit is going to finish on target by summer of next season. It should be done two to three months in advance of the Grand Prix and well before time for all the teams and all the big name drivers to arrive in India.
CNN-IBN: It will also be the longest race season in formula one history. Are you looking forward to that?
Karun Chandhok: Yeah, it's going to be a long and tough season. Already, this year is a real roller coaster. Sometimes, it seems Bahrain was just yesterday but at some other time it seems like it happened a long time back. It is a great sport and business and we are here to put a great show to make sure that people get a chance to watch the best drivers on the best circuit. And if they get a chance to see that more times than ever before I think that would be great for the sport.
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