Lotus has announced that Karun Chandhok will replace Jarno Trulli in this weekend's German GP.

However, confirming the move, the Malaysian team is keen to stress that this is essentially a one-off and that the Italian remains a part of the team. Indeed, team boss Tony Fernandes says he is hoping to extend the Italian's contract.

"Ever since I first met Karun I have been impressed with his whole demeanour," said Fernandes, "he is talented, passionate, committed and he brings great energy to the whole team so I am delighted that we are giving him the chance to add even more value to us in the cockpit over a whole race weekend.

"One of the key goals of Team Lotus is to provide a stepladder to the top of world motorsport for talent from all over the world," he continued, "and we have been true to that philosophy since the first days of the team. For Formula 1 to continue to develop globally we need to keep creating new opportunities for talent from around the world to reach the top and Team Lotus will continue to do its best to support that. As a young Asian driver Karun faces even more obstacles to achieving his goals than his counterparts from the established motorsport homelands in the West, both from inside and outside F1, and I am very proud to be able to give him this chance on merit.

"I also want to take this chance to thank Jarno for helping make Karun's opportunity this weekend possible," he added. "He has been extremely accommodating in stepping to the side for this race and our commitment to him is unwavering. I am delighted to confirm that we are in the process of negotiating an extension to his contract with us and we are all looking forward to unveiling the details of that very soon. He is a key member of our team and I hope that we can give him a car as soon as possible that allows him to utilise his considerable talent to the full. For this weekend he will be on hand to lend his huge experience and support to Karun and I am sure Jarno, Heikki and Karun will do me, the whole team and all our fans very proud indeed."

"Ever since I first joined the team I have been looking forward to this opportunity," said Chandhok, "and I am determined to do my best to repay their faith in me and help the team progress, this season and for many years to come. I am approaching the weekend in a very realistic frame of mind. I will be doing my best to push and to make sure I learn as much as possible all weekend, take each session as it comes and work as closely as I can with the engineers and the whole team to do the best job I can.

"Whatever happens, I am very excited about lining up on the grid on Sunday," he added, "and I know there will be millions of Indian fans, and Team Lotus fans around the world, who will be behind me and the whole team, so I will do the best I can to give them something to cheer for."

"I'm looking forward to working with Karun this weekend and doing whatever I can to help him get the most out of his opportunity," said Trulli. "It's great that the team is true to its word of helping develop young talent, particularly from parts of the word where it is even harder to break through into the top rung of motorsport, so I'll be there to give him guidance and assistance, in and out of the car."