Earlier this week, Ecclestone told the Hindustan Times that he disagrees with Mallya's choice of putting Vitantonio Liuzzi in the VJM02 cockpit for the remainder of the 2009 season, rather than give countryman Chandhok a chance to prove himself in F1. According to the 78-year old Brit, Chandhok is not only a visible F1 material, but also the sport's highest chance of winning some ground on the Indian market (a piece of which Bernie wants for years now).
In response to Ecclestone's request, Mallya insisted that he wants more than anyone to field an Indian driver for his team, only that driver has to be very prepared to make this step. As his appreciation for Chandhok is as high as Bernie's, the Indian billionaire also revealed he is prepared to put the GP2 driver in an F1 simulator in order to check him out.
“Bernie obviously recognises vast potentials in India and that an Indian driver in F1 will probably, I say probably, make the sport more popular in our country. So one cannot find fault with his comment or desire,” said Mallya in an interview with the PTI news agency.
“The entire issue has got too dramatized. I have been discussing the issue with Karun Chandhok and have already agreed to put him in the driver simulator to see how he handles the F1 car. At the end of the day he must win some GP2 races and come out good in the F1 simulator. And if he is competitive in the simulator, I would be the first one to offer him a position in Force India,” Mallya added.
Chandhok is currently racing in the GP2 Series, for Ocean Racing Technology, where he only managed an 18th place overall after 8 rounds. His only win in the championship happened at the Hockenheimring, during the 2008 German Grand Prix.
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