Like many single males who are almost thirty with no real friends, I spend a lot of time on internet message boards that are of interest to me getting all worked up about things that don’t really matter and F1 is most certainly one of those pointless things I like to indulge in. There are many decent message boards mainly filled with fan boys for certain drivers and teams which can make the debate a little school boyish at times, but then again it is an internet message board and BBC Radio 4 I am spending my spare time with.
We love gossip on the internet, there is always someone who is ‘in the know’ or people who love to make 1+1=3. Silly season in F1 is always at the end of the season when there are seats up for grabs. Name comes out of nowhere; I saw both Mika Hakkinen and Jacques Villeneuve being linked with Williams by some crazy message board dweller, Which would be fine if it was for the 2002 season and not 2012. This would be funny if it wasn’t for the fact that these people care so much about F1 to sign up for a message board yet know so little about the sport! Normally these types give me a good chuckle until I see the one post that I read every now and again that sends me into a ball of keyboard warrior fury. “What about Karun Chandhok for *insert team here*, he deserves a chance”.
Ok now don’t get me wrong, I think Karun Chandhok has shown himself to be; (a) a driver of decent pedigree in lower formulas (b) a very charming man, but that is it, and in no way deserves to be on a F1 grid. Chandhok struggled in GP2 and found his way into F1 with a team desperate for cash and even then he could not keep his seat and was replaced by the hapless Yamamoto who did just as good of a job. Before that Chandhok was out performed by fellow rookie Bruno Senna a driver whose own F1 abilities are yet to be proven. He found himself on the side-lines in 2011 at Team Lotus and was given a chance to replace Jarno Trulli at Germany but was once again well off the pace of his team mate. Chandhok was hired by Lotus to be an Asian driver in an Asian backed team and the fact that Trulli was utterly woeful this year and still raced the Indian Grand Prix ahead of Chandhok speaks volumes.
So why does Chandhok, a pay driver (just like the dastardly Maldonado) keep getting touted for seats in F1? I’d love to say this was a practise of the brainless keyboard warrior but there is no end to his fan boys in the press also. I almost fell off my chair when Jonathon Legard was touting him as a replacement for Vitaly Petrov at Renault last year. How many minutes of air time does he get on the BBC? I am guessing at least more than half the drivers on the grid and I am positive he received more coverage at the Indian Grand Prix for not competing than Narain Karthikeyan was in the race and did something that Karun will never do in a F1 car. A sterling job.
Chandhok is trading on being a very nice guy who is always keen to give a sound bite to the media when requested. The Harry Redknapp of F1. He is a knowable and well-spoken guy with a great personality. The more I see him TV as a pundit and not driving an F1 the car the better.
