Formula One news

Get an Indian driver, Ecclestone advises Mallya

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes that Force India Team Principal Vijay Mallya should have chosen an Indian driver to run alongside Adrian Sutil once news of Giancarlo Fisichella's move to Ferrari was confirmed. The commercial rights holder has admitted that is his 'disappointed' that no Indian driver is competing in the sport.

With Ecclestone hoping to add an Indian Grand Prix to the schedule by 2011, the only man from the county to have competed in Formula One thus far is Narain Karthikeyan when the team ran under its original guise as Jordan in 2005.

Chandhok current races for Tiago Monteiro's Ocean Racing Technology in GP2

"I was hoping Vijay would give Karun (Chandhok, of GP2) a chance," Ecclestone told Hindustan Times, "and I'm a little disappointed that he has put the Italian guy (Vitantonio Liuzzi) in…whether he has to do this by contract, I don't know, but I would've liked to see Karun in the car for rest of the season.

"We need to get Karun in the Formula One car quickly and he has got the talent and the ability, so it's a case of somebody just getting on and doing it now." Would a rushed decision leave the current Ocean Racing Technology driver off the pace, though? "We haven't seen him in a Formula One car to know but there's no reason why he shouldn't perform," Ecclestone concluded.

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