It was a shame Grosjean blew his engine and dumped some oil at the first corner in the final three minutes," he lamented, "I lost two tenths of second on my best lap, which cost me a top three slot.
A brilliant start vaulted the iSport car into fifth off the line, and Chandhok then took fourth with move around the outside of Adrian Valles at the first corner. Everything appeared to going well as he settled in behind team-mate Bruno Senna, only for a safety car to send all the cars scurrying to the pits together. With Senna ahead of him on the road, Chandhok was forced to sit and wait before receiving his mandatory tyre change.
It's so frustrating when that happens, but there's just nothing you can do, the Indian said, You have to stop under the safety car because, if I'd stayed out, I would have lost even more time. The mechanics did a great job to do both pit-stops but, after the delay of waiting for Senna to finish his, my good work from the opening lap was ruined.
Chandhok rejoined in ninth, which was the best he could have hoped for in the circumstances, and enjoyed a huge battle with Kamui Kobayashi, who would go on to win Sunday's reverse grid race. However, he couldn't make an overtaking move and finished just outside the points - leaving him in ninth place at the start of race two.
I was involved in a very entertaining battle after my stop, but passing at this circuit borders on the impossible - Buemi, Kobayashi and I just drove around in a procession," he revealed, "The car was much better than my result suggests, but it was just one of those things.
His fortunes didn't improve in Sunday's race as, after passing Saturday race winner Alvaro Parente off the line, he found himself under attack from Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan passed the iSport car going into turn four but, as Chandhok turned in, he was hit from behind by Filippi.
![Karun Chandhok - iSport International [pic credit: GP2 Series]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/432042.jpg)
