Force India will evaluate Chandhok and Jani

Force India boss Vijay Mallya has announced that he will test Karun Chandhok and Neel Jani in the McLaren-made F1 simulator next week: « Karun [Chandhok] is like a son to me. I have known him since he was a little boy. If I can give him a chance, I would be delighted. »

« But he must prove that he is capable of achieving good things. So, I offered him to sit in the McLaren drivers’ simulator and see what he can do. Depending on his results, we will see if we go further, » continued Mallya to Reuters.

Chandhok, 25, is currently in 18th position in the GP2 championship, but in Formula 1, Bernie Ecclestone stated last week that he deserved a chance in a Grand Prix with Force India. Mallya added that the A1GP champion, Jani, would also be brought in to experience the simulator.

He and his father have been of great help to me over the last two seasons. They asked me for a chance. I can’t deny him a trial in the simulator, so yes, he will also go to test it.

The head of the Indian team also suggested that Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi would likely remain with Force India next year: « They are loyal and they work hard. They are with the team and they do their best. Unless there is a valid reason to change them, I don’t see the point of a change. For now, I am very happy with my drivers, and the sole purpose of these tests is to open the horizon for a test driver role, and we will see where to go a little later. »