Career highlights

2016 - 2021 - Williams Heritage Driver

Karun was born with racing in his blood. His father, Vicky Chandhok, was a multiple Indian rallying champion and president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India. Karun won seven races on his way to becoming champion in Formula Maruti before moving to Formula 2000 Asia where he secured a further eight wins and picked up another championship.

In 2002 Karun made the move to British Formula 3, where he competed in the National Class for two years, securing seven wins on his way to third in the standings with T-Sport, before moving up to the main class for 2004. In 2005 Karun raced in Formula Renault 3.5 and became the first driver to represent A1 Team India in A1 Grand Prix. Karun took seven race wins on his way to becoming the first Formula Asia V6 by Renault champion in 2006.

Karun made the move to GP2 Series in 2007, with Durango. He took his first win in the Series towards the end of his debut season, at Spa-Francorchamps. Karun’s first Formula One outing soon followed, when he tested for Red Bull Racing in Barcelona.

For 2008 Karun was partnered with Bruno Senna at iSport International. He took another victory, this time at Hockenheim, and scored two podiums at Monaco and Silverstone on his way to 10th in the standings.

The switch to Ocean Racing Technology for the 2009 GP2 season was a tough one for Karun. He could only manage one podium, at Silverstone, and only amassed 10 points throughout the year.

Following links to Force India, Karun signed for Hispania Racing in 2010 alongside former GP2 teammate, Bruno Senna. The season was a difficult one. The team struggled to get Karun out on track at the first races, and the following races proved to be just as trying. Karun only completed half a season for HRT but he did achieve the team’s best finish, a 14th place in Australia. Karun was signed as a reserved driver at Team Lotus in 2011. He only competed in one race during the season in Germany, in place of Jarno Trulli. Following his brief stint in Formula One, Karun moved to the World Endurance Championship before competing in the inaugural season of Formula E for Mahindra Racing. Alongside his racing career Karun has become a household name as a commentator and Formula One analyst for the likes of BBC Radio 5 Live, Sky Sports F1, BeIN Sports, Autosport Magazine and most recently Channel 4 F1.

In 2016 Karun became Williams Heritage Driver. In his role Karun tests and drives Williams’ historic racing cars at public demonstrations such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he has previously driven heritage cars such as the FW08C and the FW13B up the iconic Goodwood Hill