Karun Chandok's dream run to F1 began a decade back, when he won the Indian National Racing Championship in 2000. With a handful of titles under his belt from the Asian junior racing scene, he left for Europe to race in British Formula 3 in 2003, initially in the National division for older cars before stepping up to advanced machinery the following year. Considering his lack of experience at that level and untested tracks, he fared quite suitably and even had a few outings in A1GP and Nissan and Renault's World Series championships. But nothing so far suggested the lad was destined for F1.

The recent chaos in the former Campos, now HRT, has been a boon for Chandok, landing a fabulous opportunity right into his lap. However, not much is expected of him, he's still a novice as far as F1 is concerned, his only F1 experience comes from a Red Bull test two years ago and his team hasn't even run in the opening round yet. The Indian Press has repeatedly touted him to be a likely contender to lead Force India, even though team boss Dr. Vijay Mallya is not entirely convinced if he has what it takes to be a part of India's F1 dream team. Having said that, F1 top- brass Bernie Ecclestone and HRT boss Colin Koles both consider Chandhok an ace racer, and with creds like those and some expedient funding, this young Indian is all set to make his F1 debut with the Spanish fleet.

Although his racing career has been marred with inconsistencies and his 2009 campaign wasn't really, well, up to the mark he definitely has driven a long way. He's a smart racer who understands his limits, got oodles of talent - slow drivers don't win GP2 races at Spa with round-the-outside passes! But, he needs to work hard on being more consistent and learn steadily. To race amongst the best you need to be the best, anything less and you belong with mere mortals.