This is my first ever blog on a F1 race. I am delighted to
present this case in a most simplest of manners like I have done on many of my
previous posts. The wait for one of the greatest sporting spectacles in India
will soon get over. The 17th Grand Prix of the season and with Championship
winner already known, this race could provide us with an entertaining climax to
the season. The event has already drawn its own critics and admirers and as
always it is a case of “Every coin has 2 sides” and I am willing to call “Heads”
and I hope I am not proved wrong by the event organizers. But before that an
overview of Indian Grand Prix –
Overview: The Indian Grand Prix will be held at Buddha International
Circuit, Greater Noida just at the outskirts of New Delhi, the capital of
India. The circuit has been designed under the supervision of Jaypee Group and
is approx. 3.31 miles and the cars will run as many as 61 times across the
circuit covering 16 corners.
Tails: There are a few handful people who have said that F1
in India is a complete waste of money. Primarily the reason being it is a sport
which very less people in India can actually afford to think of taking up as
profession. The sport itself is prone to accidents and the F1 drivers have to
go through a lot during the simulators tests and on the race days. Then we have
had environment related concerns before getting approval nods for building the
huge Jaypee Sports Complex not only for F1 race but for other sports in near
future. The problem with space as for F1 races not only the cars but huge
machinery setup that comes in separate flights require space as much as a size
of a football field. The F1 races usually have all the paparazzi along with
them which lead to another top issue of security forces which the country
regularly faces with. Looking closer at only the racing aspect how many Indians
have actually made it in this sport – just 2 out of 2 billion people. That
itself says a lot about awareness of F1 in India. I can basically understand
from where these insecurities are being expressed. It is the failure of
Commonwealth games and corruption. People fear if such malpractices have again
been adopted in hyping up the F1 Indian GP.
Heads: I am sure the lessons have been learnt and this is
India’s best opportunity to put itself on global map once again after the CWG
debacle. Indian GP epitomizes changing trends in Formula 1. It is an
acknowledgement of India's economic clout and its status as one of the world's
most happening automobile markets. It is therefore natural that a sport, whose
heart and soul is in automobile engineering excellence achieved by some of the
best known car manufacturers that they should come here. It also gives a chance
to corporate India to put its marketing skills on display as various brands
constantly flash on TV ads reminding us about the F1 race, the drivers and the
skills and everything else a PR could creatively come up with. Events like
these lead to awareness and might perhaps give rise to a budding F1 racer in
India. A program called as X Factor started by Dr. Vijay Mallya, co-owner of Sahara
Force India F1 car to search for India’s next driver. And as and when more
people start understanding the finer aspects of the making of F1 car, we would
not only have drivers but technicians also manning the pit lanes. There has
been sudden increase in count of visitors to Go-Kart circuits across the
country. And of course the tourism industry gets a boost with foreign delegates
travelling into the country. Still F1 is not all about money. Think about it from
a racing perspective – no matter how many laps a driver does on simulator test –
it is quite a different prospect to actually be there on the newest track on a
Friday practice session or a Saturday qualifying lap than a Sunday race day. I
am hoping to see some over taking maneuvers attempted rather than the tyres and
pit stop strategy to win the race.
I have not watched F1 race with a keen interest as I have
watched may be football or cricket. But always been a huge fan of Ferrari and
Kimi Raikonnen. So I will be cheering for the Scuderia on Sunday hoping either
Fernando Alonso or Felipe Massa finish first and the Red Bulls occupy the remaining spots on
the podium.
It is time…
To smell the rubber burning…
To hear the engine clattering…
To feel the heart stopping at hairpins…
To see the jubilation as the cars cross the finish line…
As the Chequered Flag is waved.
