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It’s a mission for any driver to make it into Formula One racing, but for Karun Chandhok it was particularly tough. Hailing from India, a country which is only just waking up to the attractions of motorsport, Chandhok didn’t have the same depth of local support his European counterparts have at their disposal.

Nothing seemed to stop Chandhok’s rise through the ranks, however, and from his early days in karting, he very quickly kick-started his professional career in the national Indian championship, Formula Maruti. After scoring pole position in all ten of the series’ races, and taking seven victories, he was declared champion. He decided to look overseas for a more demanding challenge.

Racing in the 2001 Formula 2000 Asia series, he won eight races and clinched his second championship. British teams were justifiably starting to take note of the Chennai-born driver, and towards the end of the year he was invited by Carlin Motorsport to test with their British Formula Three team.

It was enough to secure a drive in the series for 2002, and Chandhok signed with T-Sport for his debut season. In his first year he finished sixth in the national class with six top-three finishes. He stayed with the team for a second year in 2003, this time improving to third in the national championship, scoring seven wins.

The following year he remained a regular frontrunner in British Formula Three, and also ran alongside fellow Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan in the World Series by Nissan at the final two rounds of the year. In 2005 he switched his focus to the inaugural A1GP series, racing for Team India, and also competed in six Formula Renault 3.5 races for RC Motorsport.

For the 2006 season Chandhok was on the move again, joining the first-ever Asian Formula Renault V6 championship. In typical fashion, he dominated, winning seven of the 12 races to take the championship.

He retuned to Europe in 2007 to join the GP2 Series with Durango Racing. Although it was a tough field, featuring a host of names that would soon join the F1 ranks, including Timo Glock, Kazuki Nakajima, Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi, Chandhok made a name for himself, winning the Belgian race at the notoriously tough Spa-Francorchamps track. It was the first time the Indian national anthem had been played during a Formula One event, albeit for a support series win.

And it was enough to secure the attentions of the Formula One Red Bull team, for whom he tested in late 2007. He continued in GP2 for a second season in 2008 with iSport International, partnering his future F1 team mate Bruno Senna. He scored a second win at the German event, as well as podiums in Silverstone and Monaco.

In 2009 he moved to the Ocean Racing Technology team, and while he failed to win another race, he came very close at the Monaco event, retiring from second just five laps from the end. By then, however, an entry into Formula One racing was looking more and more hopeful, with four new teams joining the grid for the 2010 season.

Although there were persistent rumours that he would join former team mate - and firm friend - Senna at Campos, the team soon fell into difficulties, and the possibility of a drive seemed to dwindle. A last-minute deal saved the team, however, and just days before the opening Grand Prix, Chandhok was confirmed as Senna’s team mate at the renamed HRT squad.

Before the team had completed any on-track testing, Chandhok was whisked away to Bahrain for the first race. Things didn’t get any easier for 26 year-old, with his car developing such a serious hydraulics problem that he was stuck in the garage throughout Friday at Sakhir. Saturday morning came and went too, and his first shakedown came during qualifying.

Although he took up the final spot on the grid - almost 10 seconds down on Sebastian Vettel’s pole time - his nerve was widely commended by paddock insiders and they will undoubtedly be keeping a keen eye on his progress during his rookie season.