Formula One in India

As far as I can remember I have been a race enthusiast and a huge Formula One fan. Ayrton Senna has always been my idol and to be honest he is one of the reasons a lot of people I know, apart from me, got so hooked on to Formula One. This started way before we got the races live on TV, Star Sports, which if I remember right started in 1993. We used to get the videos of the races prior to this and for anyone who watched racing at that time, there were only two names that were ever mentioned, Senna and Alain Prost, not disrespecting Nigel Mansell's extraordinary talent. Racing between these drivers was fierce at that time, with neither driver ever giving an inch to the other.

It is hard to believe that it is actually 20 years later and the strong talk of a Formula One race on the streets of Delhi is sending chills down everyone's spines. Motorsports in India and Formula One in particular seen massive growth, especially amongst the younger audiences. After cricket and maybe football it is the most watched sport in India. Not only have the viewers increased, but through various efforts of the FMSCI, governing body of motorsports in India, drivers aspiring to be in Formula One have increased, due to the various junior categories that exist. JK Tyres have played a big role in developing drivers, including Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok and Armaan Ebrahim.

Attending races has always been fun, greeted by the deafening sounds of the V8 engines, but having a race in India is just way beyond everyone's dream. A Formula One race in India has been talked about for the last few years with nothing come out of it. However, recently Vijay Mallya, Force India Team Owner was confident when he said that India will have a Formula One race in 2010 and no later. This statement seems the strongest ever and I think the possibility of having a race in 2010 or 2011 has a 90% possibility. The fact that India have a team on the F1 grid is a huge achievement by itself, and with Karun Chandhok knocking on the doors of Formula One, this is definitely the best time to have a race in India.

Signing a deal with Bernie Eccelstone to host a Formula One race might be a significant and huge step, but it is only the first step in many towards hosting a Formula One race. Apart from the budgets, the infrastructure requirements for a Formula One race is very demanding and the level of planning has to be at the highest levels for an event of this stature. It is imperative that people with experience in motorsports are involved with the planning of this event. A Formula One event is like no other event in the world and careful considerations have to be made while planning this.

All that said, having a Formula One race in India will be mega, and possibly the most glamorous event the country has even witnessed. And I am sure people will pour in from all over the country to witness this, now let us just hope that we have an Indian driver on the Formula one grid...