An Indian Formula

On October 30,India will host this orchestra for the first time,with Sutil and 23 other drivers,including India’s Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok,participating at the Buddh International Circuit on the outskirts of Greater Noida,nearly 60 km from New Delhi.

While India is not new to the sport—Karthikeyan,the first Indian on the grid,has been around since 2005—and there is a substantial fan following as well,F1 certainly is new to a large number of Indians. While the novelty generates that extra bit of excitement,for a complex sport such as this,it also can lead to wrong first impressions.

On the face of it,F1 appears to be a flawed sport. To begin with,there is no level playing field—all cars are fast but some are faster. One team,Ferrari,has an annual budget of nearly 400 million dollars,while another,Hispania Racing,has one of 40 million. The rules are complex and change almost every year.

A ticket,however cheap,is still very expensive,while the expensive ones cost a bomb. Here in India,they range between Rs 2,500 (grass embankments) and Rs 35,000 (grandstand) and corporate boxes start from Rs 35 lakh to Rs 1 crore (Rs 7-10 lakh per person). And even after paying through your nose,you can’t follow the action completely without relying on TV screens. And after all that,when cars that fast zip past in front of you,all you can see is a blur. For a non-discerning eye,it could be difficult to tell a Red Bull from a Toro Rosso,let alone Sebestian Vettel’s from Mark Webber’s.

But while a few teams do have much bigger budgets,they don’t necessarily translate into success. Red Bull has been the most dominant team on the circuit for the last two years,despite having a slimmer budget—288 million dollars—than Ferrari. Ironically,Red Bull’s sister team,Toro Rosso,was placed two slots behind Force India (7th) last year despite the two teams having more or less similar budgets,around 80 million dollars.

With the margin of error being very low,there is plenty of uncertainly as well which makes the sport exciting. But what makes thousands religiously throng a venue on a race day is the fact that it’s not just a sport,it is sports entertainment at it best. It’s what the Lalit Modi brand of IPL aspired to be.

F1 is where the world’s fastest machines come—a BAR Honda car is said to have clocked 413 km an hour in 2006 in an unofficial testing. The Greater Noida circuit is likely to see cars that clock over 320 km an hour.

With the official figure of 527 million viewers globally per race in 2010—in contrast,an estimated 70 million saw the India-Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup final earlier this year—it’s also one of the most keenly followed sports in the world. And unlike the Olympics or a World Cup,the races are held every year. It’s this massive global reach that makes many countries around the world crave for hosting a race.

However,unlike a few Asian countries—Malaysia,China,Bahrain and Abu Dhabi— where the establishment has actively been involved in hosting a race,the forthcoming Indian Grand Prix is a private venture. But the idea of an Indian race was first mooted in 2003 by the then Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in a bid to aggressively project Hyderabad as the face of a ‘shining India’.

Jaypee Sports International,a subsidiary of a real estate major,signed a contract with an equally eager Formula One Administration and has so far invested 400 million dollars in building the track,which while still being under construction has been approved by FIA (International Automobile Federation).

From a purely sporting perspective,for an average Indian fan it may not be a significant race in terms of world championship standing—Red Bull’s defending champion Vettel has it almost in the bag—but on the whole,it promises to be a never-seen-before experience.

Formula one Logistics

A Formula 1 season nowadays starts in March and ends late in November—and that’s not counting testing and development. Given that 19 races are spread over the globe,with sometimes only a week between two races,and that every team has tonnes of equipment and nearly 100-strong support staff,it poses a huge logistical challenge.

Teams start planning right after the calendar of a season is released,booking flights and hotels. While the stuff is packed in trucks and transported via road for the European leg of races,teams use cargo planes chartered by Formula One Management to ship the equipment across continents.

While the race takes place only on the weekend,teams arrive early to set up base. And once it’s over,even as the bubbly is being sprayed on the podium,the crew starts dismantling the cars and packing them up in containers for the next event. For them,a GP is a race against time.

It’s because of logistical convenience that there is talk of the Indian race being shifted to April from 2012.

Indian Participation

As soon as you enter a race circuit,the first thing that strikes you is the distinctly crimson feel to almost everything. It’s because almost every other person is wearing the bright,red colour of Scuderia Ferrari,the oldest and most widely followed team in the business and the neutral’s team of choice as well.

In India,however,the tifosi (as Ferrai supporters are known) will have some serious competition. This is because barring Brazil and a few traditional European powerhouses such as Germany,Britain,Spain and Italy,India is better represented in the sport than most other countries that host a race.

The country has its own competitive mid-table team,the Vijay Mallya-owned Force India—driven by Germany’s Adrian Sutil and Britain’s Paul di Resta—and two drivers,Hispania Racing Team’s Narain Karthikeyan,who is also the first Indian F1 driver,and Team Lotus’s Karun Chandhok. Force India,formerly known as Jordan,Midland and Spyker,have been in their current form since 2008. They are a fast improving team,having finished seventh in the constructors’ championship last year,while this season they are currently placed sixth.

Thirty-four-year-old Karthikeyan,who was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo in June,will be back in the HRT cockpit for the Indian GP,while Chandhok is also strongly tipped to start on the grid.

Ferrari

The oldest surviving team in F1. Have participated in every race since the inaugural season,1950. Have won 16 constructors’ championship and 15 world titles. This year has been a disaster for both Alonso and Massa. Their only win came when Alonso took the chequered flag at Silverstone,the very place where the Italian team won their first race 60 years ago.

Drivers: Fernando Alonso (ESP),

Felipe Massa (BRA)

Team standings: 3

Drivers standings: 1 (Alonso),6 (Massa)

Wins/podiums: 1/7 (Alonso 1/7,Massa 0/0)

Force India

India’s first F1 team have been making strong progress every year. The young Paul di Resta,who replaced Tonio Liuzzi,has shown in his first season that he has a promising future in the sport,while Sutil continues to impress. A podium finish,however,remains elusive.

Drivers: Adrian Sutil (GER),

Paul di Resta (GBR)

Team standings: 6

Drivers standings: 11 (Sutil),

13 (di Resta)

Wins/podiums: 0/0

Hispania

Have made more news for their financial woes and—ironically for the sport—lack of speed. In India,however,they are known for their Indian drivers. Karun Chandhok raced for HRT last year,while Narain Karthikeyan made a return for F1 this season in a Hispania. About the car’s performance,however,the less said the better.

Drivers: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA),Narain Karthikeyan (IND),

Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)

Team standings: 11

Drivers standings: 23 (Liuzzi),

26 (Karthikeyan),27 (Ricciardo)

Wins/podiums: 0/0

Team Lotus

The famous name returned to F1 in 2010 after a gap of 15 years,revived by a Malaysian consortium,but it has been a modest comeback so far. The team haven’t scored a single point in two years. India’s Karun Chandhok drove one race—German Grand Prix at Nurburgring—but finished 20th. He is expected to be behind the wheel for the Indian race.

Drivers: Jarno Trulli (ITA),Heikki Kovalainen (FIN),Karun Chandhok (IND)

Team standings: 10

Drivers standings: 21 (Trulli),22 (Kovalainen),28 (Chandhok)

Wins/podiums: 0/0

McLaren

One of the traditional Big Twos of Formula One. Have won more world titles (8),races (173) and pole positions (146) than any other team,except Ferrari. The only team to have challenged Red Bull this season.

Drivers: Lewis Hamilton (GBR),

Jenson Button (GBR)

Team standings: 2

Drivers standings: 2 (Button),5 (Webber)

Wins/podiums: 4/12 (Button 2/8,Hamilton 2/4)

Mercedes

Have the seven-times champion Michael Schumacher and the talented Nico Rosberg in their ranks,but that hasn’t translated into success on the track. Schumacher,who had retired in 2006,hasn’t even made it to the podium in his second coming. Rosberg did finish inside the top-3 thrice in a few races last year,but has lost some pace this season.

Drivers: Michael Schumacher (GER),Nico Rosberg (GER)

Team standings: 4

Drivers standings: 7 (Rosberg),

8 (Schumacher)

Wins/podiums: 0/0

Red Bull Racing

One of the two teams owned by Austrian energy drink makers Red Bull—the other being Scuderia Toro Rosso. For the last two seasons,the Renault-powered Red Bull have been the most dominant team in the sport. World Champion

Sebastian Vettel needs just one point to defend his title with five races to go.

Drivers: Sebastian Vettel

(Germany),Mark Webber

(Australia)

Team standings: 1

Drivers standings: 1 (Vettel),

4 (Webber)

Wins/podiums: 9/22 (Vettel 9/14,Webber 0/8)

Renault

Had ended Ferrari’s run of six constructors’ and five drivers’ titles in 2005,but those days seem a long time ago. Main driver Robert Kubica suffered an accident before the start of the season. With only two podium finishes this year,it’s clear that it is Renault in name only,after it sold its remaining 25 per cent stake to Lotus.

Drivers: Vitali Petrov (RUS),Nick Heidfeld (GER),Bruno Senna (BRA)

Team standings: 5

Drivers standings: 9 (Petrov),

10 (Heidfeld),18 (Senna)

Wins/podiums: 0/2 (0/1 Petrov,

0/1 Heidfeld)

Sauber

After returning to the sport in 2010,Swiss team Sauber have established themselves as mid-table outfit. Have a competent driver in Japanese Kamui Kobayashi,while Sergio Perez’s season was affected by a crash in Monaco. Sauber also have an Indian connection,with Dehradun-born Monisha Kaltenborn being the CEO of the team.

Drivers: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN),Sergio Perez (MEX),Pedro de la Rosa (ESP)

Team standings: 7

Drivers standings: 12 (Kobayashi),16 (Perez),20 (de la Rosa)

Wins/podiums: 0/0

Toro Rosso

They are the second Red Bull-owned team on the grid,although based in Italy and not in Britain like their sibling RBR. Much before RBR started their bull run,it was Toro Rosso that got the group its first pole and victory—at the Italian GP in 2007. And who was the driver?

Sebastian Vettel. Lately,however,the Ferrari-powered team have drifted more towards the back of the grid.

Drivers: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP),Sebastien Buemi (SUI)

Team standings: 8

Drivers standings: 15 (Alguersuari),10 (Buemi)

Wins/podiums: 0/0

Virgin

Only the second Russian F1 team after Midland,which eventually became Spyker and then Force India. Like Hispania,Virgin have been perennial backmarkers—if anything,even worse—although the number of double finishes has increased this year.

Drivers: Jerome d’Ambrosio (BEL),Timo Glock (GER)

Team standings: 12 (0 points)

2010 position: 12

Drivers standings: 24 (d’Ambrosio),25 (Glock)

Williams

A major player in the 80s and 90s,the Cosworth-powered Williams are a shadow of their former self. Their only pole position in the last five years came when Nico Hulkenberg surprised everyone in Brazil. He was dropped for 2011. Last year,they finished sixth,a point ahead of Force India; this year they are at the bottom among the teams.

Drivers: Rubens Barrichello (BRA),Pastor Maldonado (VEN)

Team standings: 9 (5 points)

Drivers standings: 17 (Barrichello),19 (Maldonado)

Wins/podiums: 0/0

Wins/podiums: 0/0