In our exclusive interview, the F1 analyst also discusses the impact of the new regulations, his pick for ‘best of the rest’ in the Constructors’ Championship, and F1’s new teams, Audi and Cadillac.
Karun Chandhok believes it’s going to be tough for Isack Hadjar to compete with Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen after he had a crash during pre-season in Barcelona.
The F1 analyst described the second seat at Red Bull as both the best and worst job in the world, with teammate Verstappen currently 66/1 in the F1 betting for the World Driver’s Championship, making him one of the early season favourites.
In our exclusive interview, Chandhok also discussed the impact of the sport’s new regulations, what the expectation will be for Audi and Cadillac, and his pick for ‘best of the rest’ in the Constructors’ Championship.
With DRS replaced by Overtaking Mode, managing energy recovery, MGU-H removed leading to increase in turbo lag on the start, how will the new regulations influence how drivers’ race?
Overtaking is going to be harder, in my opinion – especially at a race like Melbourne. The track there is what we call energy-poor. You have to do a lot of harvesting to get the energy across the lap because it’s a very high-speed circuit with not many opportunities to recover and harvest.
So even though you have the extra energy to use the overtake mode, in practicality it’ll be hard to actually put that energy into the battery because of the layout of the track.
A track like Bahrain, for example, which is an energy rich circuit, you’ll get much more overtaking. So broadly speaking, overtaking will be a little bit harder on average, but I think it’ll be much more circuit specific based on energy usage.
Having said that, I should add that we will probably get overtaking moves in unconventional places because people are choosing to harvest or deploy energy in different places to their rivals, so we could be in for some real surprise moves.
Who do you think will be the best of the rest?
Haas have looked pretty good in testing. They’ve done lots of mileage and just kept their head down. They’ve done a very solid job, which as a midfield team, is what you want.
I’d say they look like they’ve been strong in terms of coming out of the blocks and (Oliver) Bearman in his second season should be more consistent.
What will the goal or expectation be for new teams Audi and Cadillac?
I think there’s two different things. For Audi, they will try to be a team that hits the ground running in Q2. That’s got to be their target – making sure they are regulars in Q2 and then starting to trouble Q3.
Audi is not a small manufacturer we’re talking about. This one of the largest manufacturers on the planet. So I appreciate it will take time, but I think Audi will start with that goal.
For Cadillac, people shouldn’t underestimate how hard it is to start a team in F1. It’s so hard. Even the team that finished tenth last year, which was Alpine, the level is so high. I know how hard it is, I raced when F1 started opening the doors with two of the new teams in 2010 and 2011.
If they can be a credible, respectable team in qualifying, ensuring they are not far off the back of the pack in the first quarter of the season. Then you can start knocking on the door of Q2 once we get into the European season and make that a regular thing, then they might sneak a point in by the end of the season. I think that’ll be a very solid first year. I don’t think people should be unrealistic about how hard it’s going to be for them.
Does having experienced drivers like Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas give Cadillac an edge despite them being a new team?
I think it’s the sensible choice. When you’ve got so many variables coming in as a new team, there’s so much to learn. You want to have a solid base, and absolutely, both Valtteri (Bottas) and Checo (Perez) are going to be able to give them that.
So I think it’s a very, very sensible choice they’ve made.
Is Isack Hadjar the driver to break the second seat curse for Red Bull?
It’s a tall order. He started off on the back foot by having a crash in Barcelona, doing quite a bit of damage to the car which compromised their test. So, he’s already put himself on the back foot.
I think it’s going to be really hard. Although I said these cars take away some of the top last 1% of physical performance out of the drivers, I also think the smarter drivers and the more adaptable drivers will be the ones who are successful. Max is the most adaptable driver on the grid. It’s incredible how he can change the way he drives a car and change his style of driving.
I think it will be tough for Hadjar. He’s a lovely kid and I hope it goes well for him. But being a teammate of Max Verstappen is the worst job in the world, as well as the best job in the world. If your teammate is Max, you’re probably driving for a good team, but you’re also up against a relentless force of nature.
