Aim is to Finish in Top Three in Formula E, Says Karun Chandhok

Karun Chandhok, who has joined India's Mahindra Racing team and will driving in the inaugural Formula E series commencing in September in Beijing, is aiming a top-three finish with Brazilian teammate Bruno Senna.

"We are going into it with reasonably high expectations. I hope straightaway we should be fighting for podiums and our aim is to finish in the top three as a team," said the Chennai-born racing driver at a media interaction here on Monday.

"It's a completely new championship with new technology. So we don't know about reliability. There's going to be a bit of luck involved, but I would be disappointed if we are not in the top 3," he explained.

Chandhok, who has raced in the glamorous F1 circuit for non-Indian team HRT with Senna, said there were a few vital differences in driving the two types of cars.

"One of the big differences is that power is fully electric. There's no internal combustion engine like you have in F1 and drivability is going to be different. Secondly, they are not on sleek tyres. Thirdly, when you brake the battery recharges, energy is recovered to recharge it.

"In F1 you have a lot of electronics to help with that. In this case because there is no engine you rely on recharging; that's going to be quite tricky," said Chandhok.

The 30-year-old said he and Senna will still be taking part in Le Mans 24 Hours and sports car racing as they won't clash with Formula E calendar. "Both of us will go to Le Mans 24 Hours (in France), it's a big race. Formula E calendar does not clash with sports car racing and my ambition in Le Mans and sports car racing will continue."

Talking about driving for Mahindra Racing in Formula E, Chandhok said he was very excited to be representing a fully Indian-owned team. "It's very exciting to be on an Indian team. This is a truly indian team with Indian technology and is very special. We have a factory in Bangalore. Hopefully, it showcases our brain power and not just the brain power behind an IT company sitting in Silicon Valley."

Asked whether he still wanted to race in F1, Chandhok said he enjoyed sports car racing.

"F1 is a funny business. Unfortunately I think money makes life very difficult (in F1). I have been very happy with sports cars. Le Mans racing is magical. It's an amazing challenge.

"Three lakh people - Eden Gardens (Kolkata) and Budh International circuit (Delhi) combined plus another one (is the crowd that watches it). So it's an amazing event," said Chandhok.

"In Formula E we are to race in cities. Just think how difficult it is for people to commute out to a race track one hour away. Take for example Silverstone in England; there is no big town nearby. But Formula E in London... people can take a bus or even cycle their way," he added.

Chandhok said the races on streets would be visually appealing like the Monaco race on F1 calendar. "We are on street circuits. Look at Monaco. It looks impressive but it's the slowest race in the year but visually it looks incredibly impressive."

He was confident Formula E races would attract a new set of tech-savvy audiences. "You will have a certain degree of racing fans but not F1 fans. We are trying to attract a new set of fans. The first race for us is in the Bird's Nest in the middle of Beijing. You are taking race to people. Therefore, there will be new audiences though some racing fans will come. Because the sound level will be much lower than in F1, Formula E can be held on city streets," said Chandhok.

"A big element of why we can go to city streets is the noise. In lots of cities and countries, India is not one, there are noise pollution controls. So F1, for example, cannot race on city streets of most countries. Formula E can. I think that is one of its big appeals.

"There was tremendous excitement among fans for the series," he said.

"There is a big buzz. People are curious because it's completely new and no one knows the potential. Could you produce a battery-powered car in 4-5 years time that has 1000 HP - even more powerful than a F1 car. Who knows?"