India on the Global Racing Map

The smell of burning rubber, fast cars zipping past in a fraction of a second, wild cheers from the stands, pit stops and cheer girls; welcome to the world of Formula One, a sport that never ceases to thrill. Since its inception in 1950 when Giuseppe Farina won the Championship to the present day champions like Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, Formula One has come a long way in establishing itself as one of the most anticipated sporting events of men and women alike. With increasing popularity, all the global superpowers have started vying for a place in the calendar to host their own Grand Prix.

2011 marks a landmark year for the Indian sporting fraternity. With Bernie Ecclestone, the chief of Formula One giving the green signal, India is all set to host its first ever Indian Grand Prix. This definitely provides the right impetus to the Indian sporting scenario, which is on a high after successfully hosting the Commonwealth Games and the ICC Cricket World Cup.

With the introduction of Force India, a team owned by Liquor Baron, Vijay Mallya, Indian interest in the sport has been increasing. People can relate better to the sport and have their own stars to look forward to during the race. The Indian Grand Prix is hence perfectly timed, as it can further strengthen the ties it’s starting to build with the spectators.

The state of the art facility, Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida is located 24 km from New Delhi, the capital city of India. The circuit is 5.14 kilometers (3.19 mi) long and is designed by F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke. The track is spread across an area of 875 acres in Jaypee Sports City. The initial seating capacity is around 150,000, with the grandstand having a capacity of 20,000. This is one of the largest facilities in terms of capacity. The track in all has 16 largely medium speed corners where F1 cars will lap at an average speed of 210 km/h. The back straight will let F1 cars reach 320 km/h making it one of the fastest tracks in the world.

Hosting an event of such magnitude clearly has its benefits on a booming economy like India. Not only would the hotel and tourism industry get an immediate boost, the country's profile, too, would get a lift. Experts are also of the view that once the Indian Grand Prix kicks off, it has the potential to generate around $170 million in revenue and employ as many as 10,000 people. The Grand Prix has also attracted sponsorships from a large number of corporate houses; with Airtel bagging the title sponsor for a whopping sum of INR 150 cr. Tickets sales has seen tremendous response with the base price tickets of INR 2500, being sold out. The premium Grandstand tickets, priced between INR 35 lakh to 1 crore, have also been picked up by celebrities and corporates.

The buzz is definitely in the air and the excitement is rapidly picking up pace. With the race coinciding with the Diwali holiday season, when consumer spending is typically at its highest, there is a growing positive outlook towards the event.

Posted in: Buddh,Formula 1