Sep.9 (GMM) Indian GP2 driver Karun Chandhok seems unlikely to move into a Force India test seat for the 2009 season.
Team supremo Vijay Mallya at Spa-Francorchamps suggested the 24-year-old is ready to test in formula one, but not make his grand prix debut perhaps until 2010.
"If there is an option to race with Force India, then that would be great," Chandhok told the Press Trust of India in Belgium last weekend.
He is however unenthusiastic about a testing-only deal with Force India, currently among the least competitive teams in F1.
"These days the testing rules mean that you get very limited driving as a test driver for any team, perhaps 5-6 days maximum in a whole year, which means that you spend a lot of time just watching other people driving around and getting rusty yourself," Chandhok explained.
"It's nice to hear that he would like me to be involved in the team and from a patriotic and emotional angle, that's great. But at the end of the day, races and careers have to be tackled using head and not heart," he added.
Chandhok said that if his next step towards the grid needs to be a test driver's role, he would rather do it with a top team.
"I would love to test with a top team and I am in discussion with some of the teams further up the field, apart from Force India," he said.
Written: Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:22:45
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