• HRT

'Our goal is to show we are credible' - Chandhok

Karun Chandhok: 'You never know, we could bag some points late in the season' © Hispania F1

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• Drivers:
• Karun Chandhok

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• HRT

Karun Chandhok, who was unveiled on Friday along with Bruno Senna as an HRT's driver for the coming season, is in no doubt about the immediate priority for the new team - to convince doubters it is a serious player on the grid.

"Our goal early on in the season is to show the world that we are a credible company," he told the Deccan Herald. "The focus is to gain some mileage, reliability and experience in the first season. We'll probably be off the mark in the first four races but from Catalunya, Spain, we will prove a challenge. You never know, we could also bag some points late in the season."

Chandhok is well known in the world of GP2 where after good seasons in 2007 and 2008, things went very wrong last year. His three years in the series saw him claim 15th, 10th and 18th in the drivers' standings. "I had a very disappointing 2009 season but everyone had already made a note of my potential. After chasing an [F1] seat for a long time, I finally found a great team to drive with."

Asked if he felt upset at not having gained a seat with Force India- he was linked to them for some time - he said there were no hard feelings and that the team's owner, Vijay Mallya, had called to wish him good luck. "Force India required something else at that point of time and they have now turned into a very good team. I hold nothing against Vijay. I wanted to drive in F1 and it didn't matter to me which team I drove for. My priority is to stay in F1 and give it my best.

"I will consider driving for Force India if an offer does pop up and if they are still on a high, in terms of racing."

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