Karun Chandhok has been involved with Formula E since its very first race back in 2014. He drove for Mahindra Racing during the inaugural Formula E season, and is eleven years later still involved in the series as commentator and analyst. In an interview with Pit Debrief he opened up about his journey into Formula E and the progress the sport has made since then.
Pit Debrief sat down with Chandhok during the Monaco E-Prix earlier this month, and spoke to him about his journey into Formula E. When asked how he ended up in the series all those years ago, he explained: “I was speaking to Alejandro when he first came up with the idea. I knew Alejandro from GP2, as he was an owner of the Campos team.”
He continued: “We were talking about doing some testing in the development car, along with Lucas [Di Grassi]. And then he said to me: ‘You know, I’d really like to have an Indian team in the championship.’”
This interested Chandhok, who continued his talks with Agag.
“At the time I was talking to Mahindra about supporting a Le Mans program, because I was racing in WEC with a team there and we were trying to get them to sponsor that. So I met with them.”
Chandhok on persuading Mahindra to join FE
Mahindra didn’t actually make their own cars at the time, which complicated their talks about the Le Mans project quite a bit.
“Now they do, but at that time they said, we don’t really make cars, so it doesn’t make sense.”
However, Chandhok did see an opportunity with the manufacturer, as they had just acquired an electric car company called Reva. “And I then thought: you make electric cars.”
He then asked them to take a look at the new championship, and in doing so he wrote history. Chandhok explained how those initial talks lead to an actual collaboration.
“There was about a year of Alejandro, Ali Russell (who was there at the time looking after the teams) and myself, going back and forth to India trying to negotiate a deal to get Mahindra onto the grid.”
The three succeeded, after which Chandhok became one of the very first drivers to participate in Formula E.
“It was an interesting project to be involved with, it was an interesting thing to see for the first time from the inside.”
Massive shift coming with Gen4 cars for Formula E
Asked if he’s happy with the direction Formula E is heading into, Chandhok said: “Yeah, I think especially the [Gen 3] Evo is a good step. Having four-wheel drive – having the recovery happening on the rear end axle as well, I think is a big step. It’s not been easy, of course there’s been hurdles along the way, which have been challenging, but I think that there’s no doubt that the car that’s here now is a very good baseline to build Gen4.”
The new generation of Formula E cars, called the Gen4, is set to be introduced at the end of next season.
“And I think Gen4 will represent a massive shift. The power that they’re talking about, it’s going to be almost double the power of this. You’re talking different tires, a bit more downforce, but a huge amount of energy recovery as well. So, it’ll transform the speed of the races and the type of racing we have.”
Pit Boost: a hit or miss for Chandhok?
Valentine’s Day 2025 marked an historic moment in electric racing: the return of mandatory pit stops to Formula E. On the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia, after years of waiting, we finally got to see Pit Boost being used during a race. From that moment onward, it’s been used during the first race of each double header, which has led to some exciting racing. The 30-second Pit Boost sees the cars get a rapid recharge in the pit lane, that provides them with a 10% energy increase.
Seemingly to his own surprise, Chandhok is enjoying this new format. “I’ve enjoyed the Pit Boost races, actually. We’ve only had two, but it introduces an element of strategic jeopardy. Once the technology’s proved a bit more – of course it’s new, and you might have some issues, but that’s normal – I actually think it would be nice to have it at all the races, to be honest. I think it introduces an interesting strategic element to the race.”
Formula E to return to India?
Asked which circuits he would love to see back on the calendar, Chandhok didn’t have to think long. “Selfishly, I’d love the championship to go back to India”, he admitted. “Because I think it’s just different. I think it’s good for the calendar to go to China, go to Brazil – go outside of the European heartland of Motorsport. It’ll be good to have a race back in India again.” Other than his home race, he’d also like to see Canada return to the calendar. “The other one is the race in Montreal.” This particular location was only on the calendar for one year, during the 2016/2017 season to be exact. “But that was a cool event. If you did an America-Canada double header again, that could be a good one.”
