Karun Chandhok became only the second Indian driver to compete in Formula One after he was signed in 2010 by newcomers Hispania Racing.
Chandhok first made a name for himself in motorsport when, in 2000, he was crowned the Indian National Racing Champion winning seven out of ten races in the Formula Maruti series.
A year later, he became the Formula 2000 Asia champion, making history as the youngest ever Asian Formula Champion, driving for Team India Racing.
The next step in his career was a test driver role with British Formula 3 champion team Carlin Motorsport in 2001, however, that came to naught and he moved across to the National class in 2002, driving for T-Sport, finishing sixth in his first year and third in his second.
A move to the A1GP yielded little success, although in 2006 he did claim the title in the first-ever Formula Asia V6 by Renault Championship.
That, though, is where his success ended as a move to the GP2 series did not yield the results many expected of the Indian racer. His three years in the series saw him claim 15th, 10th and 18th in the Drivers' standings.
But despite his unremarkable form in recent years, Chandhok was linked to a race-seat with Formula One's India team, Force India. That, though, never materialised despite his close ties to family friend and team owner Vijay Mallya.
However, Chandhok finally got the opportunity to prove himself in Formula One after new team, Hispania Racing, confirmed that he would race alongside Bruno Senna in the 2010 Championship.
The season, though, was a difficult one for the team and their drivers with Chandhok's best result being a P14 in Australia and again in Monaco. He was eventually replaced by Sakon Yamamoto after the British GP, just one of Hispania's many driver swaps during their first season.
Chandhok, though, was not left out in the cold with Team Lotus signing him as their official third and reserve driver for the 2011 Championship. The team then announced on 21 July that he would contest the German GP in place of Jarno Trulli.
The move, though, looks set to be a one-off deal...
