Karun Chandok, who has joined India's Mahindra Racing team and will driving in the inaugural Formula E series commencing in September in Beijing, is aiming a top three-finish with Brazilian teammate Bruno Senna.
"We are going into it with reasonably high expectations. I hope straightaway we should be fighting for podiums and our aim is to finish in the top three as a team," said the Chennai-born racing driver at a media interaction here today.
"It's a completely new championship with new technology. So we don't know about reliability. There's going to be a bit of luck involved, but I would be disappointed if we are not in the top 3," he explained.
Chandok, who has raced in the glamorous F1 circuit for non-Indian team HRT with Senna, said there were a few vital differences in driving the two types of cars.
"One of the big differences is that power is fully electric. There's no internal combustion engine like you have in F1 and drivability is going to be different. Secondly, they are not on sleek tyres. Thirdly, when you brake the battery recharges, energy is recovered to recharge it.
"In F1 you have a lot of electronics to help with that. In this case because there is no engine you rely on recharging; that's going to be quite tricky," said Chandok.
The 30-year-old said he and Senna will still be taking part in Le Mans 24 Hours and sports car racing as they won't clash with Formula E calendar.
"Both of us will go to Le Mans 24 Hours (in France), it's a big race. Formula E calendar does not clash with sports car racing and my ambition in Le Mans and sports car racing will continue."
Talking about driving for Mahindra Racing in Formula E, Chandok said he was very excited to be representing a fully Indian-owned team.
"It's very exciting to be on an Indian team. This is a truly indian team with Indian technology and is very special. We have a factory in Bangalore. Hopefully, it showcases our brain power and not just the brain power behind an IT company sitting in Silicon Valley.
