New Delhi: India's Karun Chandhok would certainly be disppointed if he does not get a chance to be on the grid in the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in October this year but the Team Lotus reserve is looking at the bigger picture - to make a comeback as a race driver in the future.
"Well yes, there will be disappointment. Obviously, any driver would love to do his home Grand Prix but I have to look at the bigger picture. There are 19 to 20 races in a year and my main objective is to be a race driver for whole world championship," Chandhok told PTI from London.
Chandhok became only the second Indian after Narain Karthikeyan to race F1 last year when he struck a deal with Hispania but was dropped mid-way by the Spanish outfit.
The Indian racing ace, in March this year, announced his deal as a reserve driver with Malaysia based Team Lotus, which also made its F1 debut last year.
Chandhok said joining Lotus was a "big step" in the right direction that will enable him to fulfill his Formula One aspirations.
"It's definitely an opportunity for me to learn from people who are experienced and have won races in the past for other teams. Joining Lotus was definitely a big step for me in terms of my F1 aspirations. I know these things will help me in getting back to the track.
"At the moment, it's an interesting time for me to work with Team Lotus. Obviously it's a bit diffrent to last year where I was a full time race driver. But this time I am with a better team. I have moved up the ladder in terms of being with the better team and I am happy for working with fantastic sets of people and learning," he said.
The 27-year-old driver also said that staying in the F1 circuit will also help him grow as a driver.
"You need to be slightly patient in such kind of situations and my view is that to believe in the medium for long term. Yes, I will back in the F1 as a race driver but this year or next year, we will wait and see," he added.
Chandhok refused to dwell on the past when he was in talks with various teams but nothing concrete came up.
"I don't want to talk about that right now. I was not too concerned of what other options were on their on the table at that time. Team Lotus is the right place for me to be in right now," he said.
As the discussions veered towards the upcoming JK Racing Asia Series in Malaysia next week, Chandhok said, "It just provides the drivers in India the next logical step. You can say the right kind of platform to Indian drivers. The most important thing it's the first step to their international career."
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