The Great Circle has lost 2 teams throughout the last year (as a paradox, both were powered by Honda) due to economic difficulties and the 4 racing seats less for 2009 have made it difficult for several GP2 drivers to make the step to Formula 1, himself included. With most teams struggling to survive financially in the series, bringing the right amount of sponsorship money became more important than racing skills.
“Finance is one thing,” said Chandhok when trying to argue why he didn't make it to Formula 1 in 2009. “For a Formula One drive, you are looking at 10-15 million dollars. That's a significant amount of money when you convert it into rupees,” added the GP2 driver.
However, he did not blame Force India's Vijay Mallya for refusing to pick him for the 2009 driver lineup, insisting that the Indian billionaire knows better how to run his own team.
“This is something which only Vijay Mallya can answer. It's his team. He has had a contract with Fisichella which is only for two years. And it is a commonly known fact that Sutil comes with a fairly good financial package and that explains it,” concluded Chandhok.
Chandhok – 10th overall in last year's GP2 Series – is the second driver to point out F1's latest trend of favoring drivers that come with the proper finance, after Japanese driver Takuma Sato blamed Toro Rosso for doing the same thing last week. The Faenza-based team then chose to appoint Sebastien Bourdais as racing driver for 2009, making no secret that sponsorship money counted the most in their decision.
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