Even a couple of years back, only the really inebriated would’ve suggested that there would be an Indian team on the Formula One grid. A few hours from now (or a few hours ago, depending on how early or late you wake up on Sunday mornings) Force India will be screeching off the grid on its debut run at the Melbourne Grand Prix.
In 2005, when Narain Karthikeyan became the first Indian driver to grace the pits of this extremely noisy world, it seemed surreal. An Indian-owned Formula One team borders on the ridiculous.
It’s the natural progression at one level — satellite television, races on the big screen, F1 clubs (several of them, rather predictably, called ‘Chequered Flag’), F1 driver, F1 team, and an F1 race to host in a couple of years. But the time-frame is spectacularly unsettling. As with most things to do with this sport, it all seems to be happening too fast.
It is a historic day, no doubt. But one problem with history in India is that it tends to remember statistics a touch more than sentiments (Is Karthikeyan a success for making it to F1 or a failure because he turned out to be slower than his team mate in the second half of the season?)
And statistics, in our number-crazy country, will be only part of the problem the team will face this year.
What’s in a name?
For starters, why Force India? There’s no Force Italy (they call that Ferrari), no Force Germany, no Force Brazil. The obvious answer is because nationalism sells like nothing else in New India — a country that knows no fear.
Unfortunately, it’s also a country that doesn’t react to failure very kindly; a country that will find it very hard to be patriotic when the team is finishing in the bottom four.
Worse, what if the cars fail to finish? What if they don’t get off the grid? What happens if the irresistible Force turns out to be an immovable object?
Vijay Mallya’s answer is accompanied by a rather emphatic shake of the head. “There are only 11 teams in Formula One. Being here in itself is a privilege,” he says. “This is a team that was finishing last the previous season. We have already made a lot of improvements since then. As the practice timings prove beyond doubt, we are positively a midfield team now.”
Hot potato
For Mallya and Force India,...
