Karun Chandhok drove in Formula 1 in 2010 and 2011. Now the Indian, who is now an expert at “Sky” in England, has told a story about Michael Schumacher and explained what he is grateful to him for to this day.
“Michael Schumacher was one of my heroes. When Prost retired in ’93 I became a huge Michael fan, even though I didn’t like what he did with Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill, but overall I appreciated his absolute brilliance,” The now 39-year-old declared his “love” for the seven-time Formula 1 world champion.
When Chandhok completed his first race in the premier class of motorsport in 2010, “Schumi” was the first to greet him on the day before the first free practice session: “He then chatted for five minutes, asking about my background and my origins inquired and wished me luck for my season. He didn’t have to do that.”
Chandhok sure: Schumacher wouldn’t have needed that
“That was the race in which he made his big comeback with Mercedes and at that time he was the biggest star, bigger than Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso, he was the biggest star the sport had and he made his big one Comeback,” continued Chandhok.
He, on the other hand, was a nobody and Schumacher didn’t actually need to talk to him, the Indian remembers.
Chandhok was unable to prove himself in Formula 1 in two years at HRT and Lotus and only made eleven race starts in total. As a result, he tried his hand at various racing series and has been working for “Sky” as an expert for several years.
Schumacher’s comeback years were also crowned with little success. In 2012, the Formula 1 legend finally said goodbye to racing. After his serious skiing accident in December 2013, little is known about the German’s health.