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Ecclestone Ecstatic about Chandhok's F1 Debut

The fact that Indian racer Karun Chandhok signed a last-minute deal with Hispania Racing F1 Team for the 2010 season is not only good news for the F1 fans in his country, but also for the championship's supremo Bernie Ecclestone. The Brit has lobbied for Chandhok's arrival in F1 for some time now, and it finally happened in the eleventh hour.

Although not with Vijay Mallya's Force India – despite Ecclestone's efforts to convince the Indian billionaire to give his countryman a shot at an F1 seat – Chandhok will debut in the series with a newly entered team. However, he'll race in F1 without a single mile of testing prior to the start of the season, which is why Ecclestone warned about his likely failure to score impressive results in the first few races.

I am very happy today to see that Karun has finally secured his place on the Formula 1 grid. It's been a bit last minute but the main thing is that he is there and with a team that should provide him stability and a chance to learn,” said Ecclestone in a statement.

Formula 1 is a very tough business with the best drivers in the world competing in the best cars and on the most challenging race circuits in the world. That is why it is the pinnacle of sport and while I believe it's going to take Karun until mid-season to show his potential, I wish him all the very best for this season and look forward to seeing the Indian media and public get behind him this year,” added the F1 boss.

Chandhok will come to F1 as a race winner in the GP2 Series – which happened 2 years ago – but without any major accomplishments in the F1 feeder championship.

There will be problems. Even the established top teams have problems in the shakedowns and our shakedown will be FP1 on Friday. But we have to stay optimistic and battle through the first few races before we start to see some fruitful results,” said Chandhok, referring to his F1 debut this weekend, according to Indian tabloid Mail Today.
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