• German Grand Prix

Chandhok to replace Trulli at German Grand Prix

Karun Chandhok last drove the Lotus during Friday practice at Silverstone © Sutton Images

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• News:
• Chandhok prepared for 'learning experience'
  
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• News:
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• Race:
• German Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Karun Chandhok
• |
• Tony Fernandes
• |
• Heikki Kovalainen
• |
• Jarno Trulli

• Teams:
• Team Lotus

Karun Chandhok will replace Jarno Trulli for this weekend's German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

Chandhok has taken part in Friday practice sessions at the Australian, Turkish, European and British Grands Prix this season but this will be his first full weekend since his last race with HRT at Silverstone in 2010. As part of his contract he had been promised a chance to prove himself with the team and after Jarno Trulli's struggles so far this season, team boss Tony Fernandes decided to place him alongside Heikki Kovalainen at the Nurburgring.

"Firstly I want to thank Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin for giving me the chance to race this weekend for Team Lotus," Chandhok said. "Ever since I first joined the team, I have been looking forward to this opportunity and I am determined to do my best to repay their faith in me and help the team progress - this season and for many years to come.

"I am approaching the weekend in a very realistic frame of mind. I will be doing my best to push and to make sure I learn as much as possible all weekend, take each session as it comes and work as closely as I can with the engineers and the whole team to do the best job I can.

"Whatever happens, I am very excited about lining up on the grid on Sunday and I know there will be millions of Indian fans, and Team Lotus fans around the world, who will be behind me and the whole team, so I will do the best I can to give them something to cheer for."

Fernandes said Chandhok had earned a chance as a race driver over the course of the season.

"I am looking forward to my first visit to the German Grand Prix, even more so now we have announced that Karun will be competing in his first full race weekend for Team Lotus," he said. "Ever since I first met Karun I have been impressed with his whole demeanour - he is talented, passionate, committed and he brings great energy to the whole team so I am delighted that we are giving him the chance to add even more value to us in the cockpit over a whole race weekend.

"One of the key goals of Team Lotus is to provide a stepladder to the top of world motorsport for talent from all over the world and we have been true to that philosophy since the first days of the team. For Formula One to continue to develop globally we need to keep creating new opportunities for talent from around the world to reach the top and Team Lotus will continue to do its best to support that."

Trulli will return to the team for the Hungarian Grand Prix where he is hoping a revised power steering system will cure some of the problems he has had this year.

"I'm looking forward to working with Karun this weekend and doing whatever I can to help him get the most out of his opportunity in Germany," he said. "It's great that the team is true to its word of helping develop young talent, particularly from parts of the world where it is even harder to break through into the top rung of motorsport, so I'll be there to give him guidance and assistance, in and out of the car."

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