Karun Chandhok (born 19 January 1984) is an Indian former racing driver and broadcaster who competed in Formula One at 11 Grands Prix from to .
Chandhok also competed in Formula E for Mahindra Racing. Previously, Chandhok has competed for Hispania Racing in Formula One in . Before this, he drove in the GP2 Series for three years, winning two races. In 2013, Chandhok competed in the FIA GT Series for Seyffarth Motorsport.
Prior to his time in GP2, Chandhok won the Formula Asia championship in 2001 and was the inaugural Formula Asia V6 by Renault champion in 2006. Since leaving F1, Chandhok has served as an analyst, co-commentator and pit-lane reporter for a variety of British broadcasters. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Sky Sports F1 live coverage team.
Chandhok has contributed to several motorsport governing bodies. Since 2021, he has served on the Board of Directors of Motorsport UK, where he has also been a member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He is also a member of the FIA Driver's Commission.
Early career Chandhok was born in Madras (present-day Chennai), Tamil Nadu, to Vicky Chandhok, a multiple-time Indian rallying champion and president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India since 2003. His father is of Punjabi descent, and his mother is Tamil Brahmin. His younger brother, Suhail Chandhok, is a sports commentator with Star Sports India.
In 2000, Chandhok was Indian National Racing Champion winning seven out of ten races in the Formula Maruti series. He scored pole position and fastest lap in all ten races. In 2001, Chandhok was the Formula 2000 Asia champion, becoming the youngest ever Asian Formula Champion, driving for Team India Racing.
Chandhok tested with British Formula 3 champion team Carlin Motorsport in 2001. He raced in the National class in 2002, driving for T-Sport, finishing sixth in class. He stayed with T-Sport in the National Class for 2003, and finished third in the final class standings, behind champion Ernesto Viso and runner-up Steven Kane. In 2004, Chandhok stepped up to the main British Formula 3 class with T-Sport, and finished 14th in the standings.
Chandhok struggled with inconsistency when he partnered his compatriot Narain Karthikeyan at RC Motorsport in the World Series by Nissan for the final two rounds the 2004 season. In the four races Chandhok competed in, he scored a DNF, 13th, eighth, before finding success with a fourth place in the final race.
With Karthikeyan moving on to Formula One in 2005, Chandhok raced part-season in the revised Formula Renault 3.5 Series with RC Motorsport. He was the first driver to represent A1 Team India in A1 Grand Prix at the beginning of the 2005–06 season, before handing over to Armaan Ebrahim for the remainder of the season.
In 2006, Chandhok became champion of the first ever Formula Asia V6 by Renault Championship, taking seven race wins and nine pole positions from 12 races.
GP2 Series
Chandhok moved to the GP2 Series in 2007, driving for Durango. Chandhok's first win in GP2 came in the sprint race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. Chandhok also led the sprint race in Turkey after starting from pole, only for the second place Kazuki Nakajima of DAMS to collide with him. The collision resulted in retirement for Chandhok while Nakajima was given a drive-through penalty.
Chandhok got his biggest career break in November with a call up from the Red Bull Racing Formula One team to test for them over two days at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona on 13–14 November.
Chandhok remained in GP2 for 2008, switching to the iSport International team where he was partnered by Bruno Senna. He won one race and finished tenth in the drivers' championship. He also drove for the team in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series season. Chandhok was presented with the series' "Best Driving Style" award at the end of the season.
In November, Chandhok became the first Indian driver to be invited to join the British Racing Drivers' Club. India's membership of the Commonwealth entitles him to be a member.
Chandhok signed to drive for the Ocean Racing Technology team in the 2009 GP2 Series season. Even though the deal with ORT was for the pan-European series, Chandhok also drove in the final round of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season, in Bahrain replacing Yelmer Buurman. Chandhok amassed ten points in the championship, with a best result of third at Silverstone. He and teammate Álvaro Parente suffered a testing season, with sixteen retirements between them.
Formula One
Force India links Chandhok was linked with the Force India team, which was created in . It was an Indian registered-team formerly owned by a friend of the family, Vijay Mallya. After the team's driver, Giancarlo Fisichella, moved from Force India to Ferrari during the 2009 season, Chandhok was briefly linked with the seat, with long-time supporter Bernie Ecclestone supporting him. The team's test driver, Vitantonio Liuzzi, was instead promoted to the race seat.
Chandhok said in Autosport, on 11 June 2010, that he was targeting a move to Force India for . Chandhok believed that the commercial benefits for the team running an Indian driver made him an obvious choice.
HRT (2010)
Chandhok began the season driving for Hispania Racing alongside former GP2 teammate Bruno Senna, becoming the second Indian driver to compete in Formula One after Narain Karthikeyan in .
At Chandhok's first race, the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, he was unable to complete a lap in any of the free practice sessions as his car was still being completed and then suffered hydraulic problems. He was, however, able to use the qualifying session to run his F110 for the first time. He qualified last on the grid, 1.7 seconds behind Senna, who had completed laps earlier in the meeting, and crashed out of the race after just one lap due to a large bump in the tarmac which sent him crashing into the wall. Chandhok recorded the team's first classified finish when he ended up fourteenth in Australia. In Malaysia, he finished 15th, and finished 17th in China. Chandhok retired in the next three races with suspension failure in Spain, an accident with Jarno Trulli in Monaco and more technical problems in Turkey. He finished 18th in Canada and Valencia, and 19th at Silverstone, but was dropped for the onwards, in favour of Sakon Yamamoto. For all the following races, he was a co-commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage of the sport.
Lotus (2011)
On 22 March 2011, Chandhok was confirmed as a reserve driver at Team Lotus for the season. He drove the car in free practice for the , crashing out on the installation lap. He reprised his co-commentary role for BBC Radio 5 Live at the . After driving in a further three free practice sessions he replaced Jarno Trulli for the . He finished 20th and last, two laps behind teammate Heikki Kovalainen and a lap behind 19th placed Daniel Ricciardo. He was also four laps behind race winner Lewis Hamilton.
Chandhok was let go by Team Lotus after the Japanese Grand Prix, meaning he could not take part in his home Grand Prix three weeks later in India. Tony Fernandes and Chandhok came to a financial settlement, but it was not completed until April 2013.
Endurance Racing: 2012 For 2012, Chandhok drove in the FIA World Endurance Championship for JRM Racing in a Honda Performance Development ARX-03a with co-drivers David Brabham and Peter Dumbreck. At the Le Mans 24 Hours, Chandhok's team finished sixth overall out of the 56 starters.
FIA GT Series: 2013 Chandhok drove in the FIA GT Series for the 2013 season in a last minute deal for Seyffarth Racing. He was joined in the car by Jan Seyffarth, who had been competing in the German GT series for his family run team. Chandhok joined Armaan Ebrahim, who became the first Indian driver to be confirmed in the series.
Formula E: 2014–2015
In 2014–2015, Chandhok drove the inaugural season of Formula E for Mahindra Racing.
Media career Chandhok has worked for a variety of British broadcasters as part of their coverage of Formula One including the BBC and Channel 4. As of 2025, he works for Sky Sports as an analyst as well as occasional co-commentator and pit-lane reporter. He also appeared on the Channel 5 programme Fifth Gear as a presenter and reporter.
Racing record
Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2000 Formula Maruti ? 10 7 10 ? 10 ? 1st 2001 Formula 2000 Asia SMR Team India 14 8 ? ? 13 246 1st 2002 British Formula 3 Championship - National Class T-Sport 25 0 0 1 5 156 6th 2003 British Formula 3 Championship - National Class T-Sport 24 8 7 2 19 314.5 3rd 2004 British Formula 3 Championship T-Sport 17 0 0 0 0 37 14th World Series by Nissan Tata RC Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 11 16th 2005 Formula Renault 3.5 Series RC Motorsport 5 0 0 0 0 0 29th 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team India 3 0 0 0 0 38 15th 2006 Formula V6 Asia by Renault Team E-Rain 12 7 4 4 9 131 1st 2007 GP2 Series Durango 21 1 0 1 1 16 15th 2008 GP2 Series iSport International 19 1 0 0 3 31 10th GP2 Asia Series 10 0 0 0 1 7 13th 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series Ocean Racing Technology 2 0 0 0 0 0 26th 2009 GP2 Series Ocean Racing Technology 20 0 0 1 1 10 18th 2010 Formula One Hispania Racing F1 Team 10 0 0 0 0 0 22nd 2011Formula OneTeam Lotus 1 0 0 0 0 0 28th 2012FIA World Endurance Championship JRM 8 0 0 0 0 50.5 10th 2013 FIA GT Series Seyffarth Motorsport 8 0 0 1 0 32 13th Vita4one Racing Team 2 0 0 0 0 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Murphy Prototypes 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th 2014 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Murphy Prototypes 2 0 0 0 0 4 24th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC 2014–15 Formula E Mahindra Racing 11 0 0 0 0 18 17th 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Murphy Prototypes 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th 2016 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Murphy Prototypes 1 0 0 0 0 4 31st 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Tockwith Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 9th British LMP3 Cup T-Sport200012710th
Complete British Formula Three Championship results (key) Year Team Chassis Engine Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Pos Points 2002 T-Sport Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda Scholarship BRH11 BRH12 DON11 DON12 SIL11 SIL12 KNO1 KNO2 CRO1 CRO2 SIL21 SIL22 CAS1 CAS2 BRH21 BRH22 ROC1 ROC2 OUL1 OUL2 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 DON21 DON22 6th 156 2003 T-Sport Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda Scholarship DON11 DON12 SNE1 SNE2 CRO1 CRO2 KNO1 KNO2 SIL1 SIL2 CAS1 CAS2 OUL1 OUL2 ROC1 ROC2 THR1 THR2 SPA1 SPA2 DON21 DON22 BRH1 BRH2 3rd 314.5 2004 T-Sport Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda Championship DON11 DON12 SIL11 SIL12 CRO1 CRO2 KNO1 KNO2 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 CAS1 CAS2 DON11 DON12 OUL1 OUL2 SIL21 SIL22THR1THR2SPA1SPA2BRH1BRH2 14th 37
Complete World Series by Nissan results (key) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points 2004 Tata RC MotorsportJAR1JAR2ZOL1ZOL2MAG1MAG2VAL1VAL2LAU1LAU2EST1 EST2CAT1 CAT2 VAL1VAL2JER1JER2 16th 11
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results (key) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points 2005 RC Motorsport ZOL1 ZOL1 MON VAL1 VAL2 LMS1 LMS2 BIL1 BIL2 OSC1 OSC2 DON1 DON2 EST1 EST2 MNZ1 MNZ2 29th 0
Complete A1 Grand Prix results (key) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points 2005–06 India GBRSPR GBRFEA GERSPR GERFEA PORSPR PORFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA UAESPR UAEFEA RSASPR RSAFEA IDNSPR IDNFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA USASPR USAFEA CHNSPR CHNFEA 24th 0
Complete Formula V6 Asia by Renault results (key) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points 2006 Team E-RainSEP11SEP12SEP21SEP22SEN1SEN2ZHU11ZHU12ZHU21ZHU22ZHU23ZHU24 1st 131
Complete GP2 Series results (key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)