Looking back at the first Indian Grand Prix weekend, I have to say I sit here with mixed emotions. The race was a phenomenal success with a great track, packed stands, interested sponsors and great media support. On the flip side, I think everyone knows how much I would have loved to be in the first Indian Grand Prix and to miss out on that has been quite painful.

Even with only driving on the Friday, it turned out to be the busiest week of the year by far for me ! For many years now I've been very conscious about the fact that apart from the driving side of things, it's very important for Narain and me to go out there and promote the sport. As the only two out of 1.24 billion people to have made it to the top, it's crucial that we use that inside knowledge and credibility for the greater good of the sport. This time around the Indian Grand Prix was when F1 fever was at its highest and it was vital that we capitalised on it.

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Tony Fernandes, Group CEO: "I am very excited about the Indian Grand Prix and I would like to congratulate The Jaypee Group and everyone involved at the circuit for their hard work in creating what I am sure will be an incredible event."

"From the team perspective the key goal for us this weekend is to maintain the performance levels we saw in the last two races and while I am sure there will be fans in India who want to see Karun race for us on Sunday we had to make the best decision for the future of the team. While all the emotional reasons for him driving were right we were conscious that the limited running he has had in the car this season, largely due to the weather conditions that have hit most of his FP1 sessions, has not given him the best preparation for this race, so we have taken the very difficult decision not to run him in this weekend. It is absolutely vital that we secure tenth place in 2011 to give us the platform to keep growing and despite the fact that Karun’s performance levels have continued to improve every time he has driven for us in 2011, it was considered too much pressure to put on Karun to drive in his first home race, deal with all the attention he would have had and be able to perform at the same level as either of our regular race drivers over the whole weekend.For that reason we had to take the pragmatic decision to put our faith in the experience and pace we have in Jarno and Heikki, and are confident they will continue to perform at the level they have over the last two years with us. While this is obviously not the decision Karun wanted us to take he understands that we have to take the long-term view and do so in the best interests of the team. He also understands that his relationship with our team is not about just one race, it is about growing together and while this is an historic event, there will be many opportunities to race in India in the future, and he is in the best possible place with us to take advantage of those chances in seasons to come."

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KARUN CHANDHOK LAUNCHES "VROOOM" - THE FIRST EVER F1 CARICATURE BOOK: [Friday, 21st October 2011] Indian Formula One driver Karun Chandhok today launched VROOOM, the first ever Formula One caricature book, which will be shared with F1 drivers at the inaugural Indian GP next weekend. VROOOM launched in association with Adrenna, is the brainchild of artist Shijo Varghese and is the only caricature book which includes the drivers of the 2011 Formula 1 grid.

VROOOM includes caricatures of F1 champions Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and local favourites Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan. The book includes a foreword from FMSCI President, Vicky Chandhok and also a tribute to the world’s leading motorsport cartoonist, Jim Bamber.

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Karun impresses for Team Lotus on Japan debutT: Karun Chandhok, Car 20 - Chassis T128-4: “It was good to get back out on track, particularly here in Suzuka as this is a circuit I haven’t driven on before and was looking forward to trying out. It took a while to get the right lines, and as the tyre wear started to kick in I wasn’t really able to improve the overall time, although I was getting quicker in certain sectors of the track. I got through a decent number of laps and think I did exactly what was required of me this morning. The car definitely feels quicker than it did when I raced it in Germany – the update we brought to Singapore has definitely taken us a small step forward and we finished pretty close to the Williams, so I think we’ll be able to fight in the race and hopefully put in as good a performance as we did here last year.”

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: “I’m pretty pleased with how my afternoon went. You’re always a little bit on the back foot when you miss the morning session at this kind of high speed circuit as you need a bit of time to get your eye in, but the balance was good almost immediately and we were able to complete the whole plan, so it was a good session. The tyres seem to be behaving well here – on the long run on the softs they held up until about the last lap so I think we’ve already found a good setup. As the track evolves that will improve even more so I think we could be in a good position in the race, bearing in mind our race pace and how well we can manage the degradation on both compounds. We’ll see on Sunday!”

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