Chandhok talking to 3 F1 teams

Karun Chandhok has revealed that he is currently in discussions with three teams on the subject of a full-time Formula 1 drive in 2011. Despite being on the Hispania Racing line-up at the start of the current campaign, the Indian is yet to compete in a race since the British Grand Prix in July.

It was at Silverstone just over 16 weeks ago when Sakon Yamamoto made his first race appearance for HRT, replacing Bruno Senna and driving alongside Chandhok. However, it is Chandhok who has since been substituted for by the Japanese, with the exception of Singapore when Austria’s Christian Klien returned to the cockpit.

“There’s nothing really to disclose but we are talking to three teams, I would say that," Chandhok explained to F1Pulse.com when discussing next season.

“We are realistically in contention for three race seats next year. We are on the phone with all three of these teams – either myself or my dad (Vicky Chandhok) – pretty much on a daily basis.

“We know the one we would really like to be in, the one that we would next like to be and the one that we would third-most like to be in! Accordingly, we are chasing them down. It may not be in the order that people expect it to be; we have to look at the long-term future as well."

Asked if he believes is he deserving of another run in the HRT car this year, Chandhok replied: “I don’t know. Unfortunately that’s a question that only the team can answer – that’s not something I can really answer. I don’t expect to be in Brazil – I think they will stick with the two drivers they had in Korea.

“My focus is very firmly on 2011…it was nice to hear people like Bernie (Ecclestone), Lewis (Hamilton) and Adrian Sutil saying complimentary things; it’s nice to hear from people within the business, who obviously know a lot about it, to have complimentary things to say."

Opinions of others aside, Karun continues to hold confidence in his own abilities. “I have done enough this year to justify another crack at it," he concluded.