Trulli: Constructors’ target kept Chandhok out

Jarno Trulli has insisted that the decision not to have local hero Karun Chandhok race for Team Lotus at the inaugural Indian Grand Prix was purely a racing one, with the team determined to lock down 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Many had predicted that Team Lotus would attempt to maximise appeal in India by putting Chennai-born Chandhok in the T128 for the F1’s newest race, especially as the Indian racer recently utilised Red Bull Racing’s simulator in a bid to learn the track. However, prior to the team’s arrival at the Buddh Circuit it was revealed that Chandhok will be restricted to driving in Friday’s first free practice session.

“There is a lot of investment made by the team for the future, for next year, in order to make (the) step into the midfield and I think none of us wants to lose this opportunity to finish 10th in the championship,” said Trulli in Thursday’s official FIA press conference. “This, I believe, is the main reason for not giving Karun another chance. But it is not down to me, honestly, to talk about it. This race is the only thing I can think about.”

And eyeing Sunday’s race, Trulli admitted his initial impressions of the circuit were positive.

“I arrived only last night but the circuit itself looks pretty good,” he said. “The layout seems very interesting. Obviously the question mark is about how dirty and dusty it is. I have been around this morning cycling and it was very dusty. I hope they can clean today and tomorrow morning and see how the circuit develops over the weekend. But it is definitely something that looks pretty good.”

Looking further ahead Trulli said the team was expecting to take another step forward in 2012, though he added that the team did not need to make a huge leap in order to achieve their immediate targets. “We have several new things coming in which should make us take a step forward in terms of performance,” he said. “We really hope that we can do what we haven’t done or what we were not able to do this year. We were expecting to be fighting the midfield and we were not quite there, so for next year I think Tony (Fernandes) and everybody is determined to make this step and they are working very hard on next year’s car and there are several deals in place in order to get a good package together for next year’s car so we are very confident of making this step."

“If you look at certain results we don’t really need (a big) jump,” he added. “We just need a little further step, as we are in a situation that the car in front is slightly quicker than us and the cars behind us are definitely slower than us, so we just need a further step to be in the midfield. “Obviously If you want to think about winning races it is different. You need a further jump but you need to take things step-by-step. Rome wasn’t built in a day and the team was built just two years ago.”

F1 Media