Chandhok to miss Home GP

India will have just one home-grown driver in its first ever grand prix on Sunday after Team Lotus opted against drafting in reserve driver Karun Chandhok in place of one of their regular race drivers.

Chandhok had been hoping to be on the grid for the eagerly-anticipated event at the brand new Buddh International Circuit with a repeat of the arrangement that saw Jarno Trulli sit out the German Grand Prix in July so he could make his race debut for the team.

However, Team Lotus chief Tony Fernandes says that although a difficult decision, with the squad desperate to ensure they hang onto the lucrative 10th spot in the constructors’ championship ahead of rivals HRT and Virgin over the final three races of the season they didn’t want to disrupt their current momentum – particularly given Chandhok’s relative lack of dry running in his hitherto Friday practice appearances this year.

“From the team perspective the key goal for us this weekend is to maintain the performance levels we saw in the last two races and while I am sure there will be fans in India who want to see Karun race for us on Sunday we had to make the best decision for the future of the team,” Fernandes said.

“While all the emotional reasons for him driving were right we were conscious that the limited running he has had in the car this season, largely due to the weather conditions that have hit most of his FP1 sessions, has not given him the best preparation for this race, so we have taken the very difficult decision not to run him in the race this weekend.

“It is absolutely vital that we secure tenth place in 2011 to give us the platform to keep growing and despite the fact that Karun’s performance levels have continued to improve every time he has driven for us in 2011, it was considered too much pressure to put on Karun to drive in his first home race, deal with all the attention he would have had and be able to perform at the same level as either of our regular race drivers over the whole weekend.

“For that reason we had to take the pragmatic decision to put our faith in the experience and pace we have in Jarno and Heikki, and are confident they will continue to perform at the level they have over the last two years with us."