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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.
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 was instantly a top-five qualifier and finisher when he partnered his compatriot Narain Karthikeyan at RC Motorsport in the World Series by Nissan for the final two rounds the 2004 season.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
| World Series by Nissan | Tata Motors RC Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 16th |
| GP2 Asia Series | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 13th | |
| Vitaphone Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 | Murphy Prototypes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 6th |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC | |
| British LMP3 Cup | T-Sport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 10th |
| 2002 ! nowrap | T-Sport ! nowrap | Dallara ! nowrap | Mugen-Honda ! Scholarship | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | Donington Park | Donington Park | SIL1 1 | SIL1 2 | KNO 1 | KNO 2 | Croft Circuit | Croft Circuit | SIL2 1 | SIL2 2 | CAS 1 | CAS 2 | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | ROC 1 | ROC 2 | Oulton Park | Oulton Park | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | Thruxton Circuit | Thruxton Circuit | Donington Park | Donington Park ! 6th ! 156 |
| 2003 ! nowrap | T-Sport ! nowrap | Dallara ! nowrap | Mugen-Honda ! Scholarship | Donington Park | Donington Park | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | Croft Circuit | Croft Circuit | KNO 1 | KNO 2 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | CAS 1 | CAS 2 | Oulton Park | Oulton Park | ROC 1 | ROC 2 | Thruxton Circuit | Thruxton Circuit | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | Donington Park | Donington Park | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | !style="background:#FFDF9F;" 3rd !style="background:#FFDF9F;" | 314.5 | |
| 2004 ! nowrap | T-Sport ! nowrap | Dallara ! nowrap | Mugen-Honda ! Championship | Donington Park | Donington Park | SIL1 1 | SIL1 2 | Croft Circuit | Croft Circuit | KNO 1 | KNO 2 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | CAS 1 | CAS 2 | Donington Park | Donington Park | Oulton Park | Oulton Park | SIL2 1 | SIL2 2 | Thruxton Circuit | Thruxton Circuit | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | Brands Hatch | Brands Hatch | ! 14th ! 37 | |
| 2004 ! nowrap | RC Motorsport | JAR 1 | JAR 2 | Zolder | Zolder | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | LAU 1 | LAU 2 | EST 1 | EST 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | JER 1 | JER 2 ! 16th ! 11 |
| 2005 !nowrap | RC Motorsport | Circuit Zolder | Circuit Zolder | MON | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | LMS 1 | LMS 2 | BIL 1 | BIL 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | Donington Park | Donington Park | EST 1 | EST 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 ! 29th ! 0 |
| 2005–06 !nowrap | India | GBR SPR | GBR FEA | GER SPR | GER FEA | POR SPR | POR FEA | AUS SPR | AUS FEA | MYS SPR | MYS FEA | UAE SPR | UAE FEA | RSA SPR | RSA FEA | IDN SPR | IDN FEA | MEX SPR | MEX FEA | USA SPR | USA FEA | CHN SPR | CHN FEA ! 24th ! 0 |
| 2006 ! nowrap | Team E-Rain | SEP1 1 | SEP1 2 | SEP2 1 | SEP2 2 | SEN 1 | SEN 2 | ZHU1 1 | ZHU1 2 | ZHU2 1 | ZHU2 2 | ZHU2 3 | ZHU2 4 !style="background:#FFFFBF;" | 1st !style="background:#FFFFBF;" | 131 |
| 2007 !nowrap | Durango | BHR FEA | BHR SPR | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | MON FEA | MAG FEA | MAG SPR | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | NÜR FEA | NÜR SPR | Hungaroring | Hungaroring | Istanbul Park | Istanbul Park | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | SPA FEA | SPA SPR | VAL FEA | VAL SPR ! 15th ! 16 |
| 2008 !nowrap | iSport International | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | Istanbul Park | Istanbul Park | MON FEA | MON SPR | MAG FEA | MAG SPR | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | Hockenheimring | Hockenheimring | Hungaroring | Hungaroring | VAL FEA | VAL SPR | SPA FEA | SPA SPR | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | ! 10th ! 31 |
| 2009 !nowrap | Ocean Racing Technology | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | MON FEA | MON SPR | Istanbul Park | Istanbul Park | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | NÜR FEA | NÜR SPR | Hungaroring | Hungaroring | VAL FEA | VAL SPR | SPA FEA | SPA SPR | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | ALG FEA | ALG SPR | ! 18th ! 10 |
| 2008 !nowrap | iSport International | Dubai Autodrome | Dubai Autodrome | SEN FEA | SEN SPR | SEP FEA | SEP SPR | BHR FEA | BHR SPR | Dubai Autodrome | Dubai Autodrome | ! 13th ! 7 | |
| 2008–09 !nowrap | Ocean Racing Technology | SHI FEA | SHI SPR | Dubai Autodrome | Dubai Autodrome | BHR1 FEA | BHR1 SPR | LSL FEA | LSL SPR | SEP FEA | SEP SPR | BHR2 FEA | BHR2 SPR ! 26th ! 0 |
| !nowrap Hispania Racing F1 Team !nowrap | Hispania F110 !nowrap | Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 | BHR | AUS | MAL | CHN | ESP | MON 14† | TUR | CAN | EUR | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | KOR | BRA | ABU ! 22nd ! 0 |
| !nowrap Team Lotus !nowrap | Lotus T128 !nowrap | Renault RS27 2.4 V8 | AUS | MAL | CHN | TUR | ESP | MON | CAN | EUR | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | KOR | IND | ABU | BRA ! 28th ! 0 |
Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the race distance.
| 2012 ! Sumo Power ! LMP1 !nowrap | HPD ARX-03 !nowrap | Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8 | SEB | SPA | LMS | SIL | SAO | BHR | FUJ | SHA ! 10th ! 50.5 |
| 2013 !nowrap | Jan Seyffarth !nowrap | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG !rowspan=2 | Pro | NOG QR | NOG CR | Circuit Zolder | Circuit Zolder | ZAN QR | ZAN CR | SVK QR | SVK CR | !rowspan=2 13th !rowspan=2 | 32 |
| 2014–15 !nowrap | Mahindra Racing !nowrap | Spark SRT01-e !nowrap | SRT01-e | BEI | PUT | PDE | BUE | MIA | LBH | MCO | BER | MSC | LDN | LDN ! 17th ! 18 |
| 2014 !nowrap | Murphy Prototypes ! LMP2 !nowrap | Oreca 03 !nowrap | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL | IMO | RBR | LEC | EST | ! 25th ! 4 |
| 2016 !nowrap | Murphy Prototypes ! LMP2 !nowrap | Oreca 03R !nowrap | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL | IMO | RBR | LEC | SPA | EST ! 31st ! 4 |
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