F1 and India!

Hi guys,

This week, Indian fans of F1 racing received great news. Formula 1’s governing body released next year’s racing schedule and India got a race to hold. It will be proud for us to have an Indian Grand Prix. It will be the 18th race of the season. It will be held in Noida, 32 kms away from Delhi. In this post I will be writing about India’s relationships with F1.

Before beginning the history and the current status, I must express to my blogging friend, Abhishek’s post on ‘Formula 1 is coming to India’ which induced me to write this one.

Indian Drivers in F1

The first Indian driver to participate in a F1 race was Narain Karthikeyan. He debuted for the Jordan team in 2005. He got his first points in the US Grand Prix when only three teams participated and all other teams pulled out due to problems with tyre. He finished fourth and that were the only points he got in F1. Then in 2006 and 2007 he was the test driver for Williams F1 team. Now he is associated with NASCAR race and there too he i the first Indian to qualify. No doubt he is the World’s Fastest Indian.

After Narain, Karun Chandok made his debut this year with Hispania F1 racing team. Both he and the team are inexperienced and they are facing huge problems. Let’s hope that all gets well soon.

Force India F1

The first sugary thing India got was the participation of Narain Karthikeyan in F1. Then a much sweeter surprise arrived. Vijay Mallya bought Spyker F1 Company for € 88 million and renamed as Force India F1 in October 2007. There were no points in first season and second season was also going on poorly. I thought it would be difficult for the team to survive. It was then Giancarlo Fischella finished second and created history. Then Adrian Sutil too finished fourth in the consecutive race.

Force India Drivers

This year, Force India is doing great. Both of its drivers Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi are finishing consistently in the point grabbing group. Currently Force India team is in 6th place with 58 points and Adrian Sutil is in 9th place for driver’s standings with 45 points in his bag. I hope that the team will do better in the upcoming races and seasons.

F1 in India

It has been long discussed to bring F1 into India. Many state governments raised plans to built F1 tracks. Then we had many constraints such as lack of big airports, quality hotels, huge investment, etc.

This was when Jaypee group came into the scene. Initially they requested for government funding and the government declined (read the article I wrote last year-F1-A Sports or Not? ). But this is what a private sector can do. They have allocated money themselves and have started doing the work. Now Formula 1 governing body has allocated October 30, 2011 for Indian Grand Prix.

Proposed track for Delhi Grand Prix

Though it is subject to change depending on track completion, I have hope that Jaypee group will pull off things and finish it up. They have promised to finish it by next April- May and they will do it as it has to do nothing with our Government. Also the recently opened Terminal in Delhi Airport also adds as an advantage. The current track is planned at 32 kms away from Delhi.

It would be great to see Force Indian Drivers finish in the podium in Indian Grand Prix. We need to wait for another year to see the Grand Prix in India, provided all arrangements go smoothly.

Happy Reading!!!