« India vs Srilanka and the group of death… :+: Malakar Mania (TM) »

Cars

Delhi the next Monaco - A F1 race in 2009 in India?

By: Karthik :+: Under: Cars, Delhi - F1 GP, Desi Ishtyle, Formula 1, Motor Racing, Politics, Sports
On: ⋅ March 23, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
Discuss in our off-topic forums

Looks like you are new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

A Ferrari at Monaco, click to enlarge.

With Vijay Mallya now taking a keen interest in bringing F1 to India, things seem to be looking up. Now that he is sponsoring the Toyota F1 team using his Kingfisher brand, the Indian tycoon has a vested interest in the process.

After a meeting with Sheila Dixit, the Chief Minister of Delhi, plans seem to be coming together.

With F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone wanting to expand the sport in Asia, India needs to capitalize on the opportunity.

Mallya has this to say after his meeting.

It certainly is feasible. We had an extremely positive meeting with the chief minister, who is entirely supportive of the idea,One of the areas which we believe would be be autiful and has a lot of heritage value is in and around the India Gate.

Yes, cricket is like a religion in this country. I am not saying 1.1 billion people are going to watch F1, but there is more than enough appetite out there.

Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher who was visiting India as a part of a sponsorship deal has this to say

Clearly, from what I have seen, it will be a great event. I am looking forward to it and hopefully it will happen.

How close to reality is this?

As an ardent F1 fan, I think I have enough background to say the following.

a) A street circuit is a much easier possibility than a dedicated F1 circuit. The tarmac would have to be resurfaced, but that should not be a big problem.

b) Even in Monaco temporary stands are erected. Of course the location of Monaco permits a lot of yacht’s to dock, but here alternative arrangements have to be made.

c) The pit lane and the garage location will be the second biggest issue as far as I go. Will they have enough space to accommodate everything?

d) Transportation of the cars, team and equipment in a timely manner will be the biggest problem, but this is not an isolated case for Delhi. Anywhere in India, this would be the biggest concern.

I have never been to Delhi, but I can assure you that combined with the culture and the location they are discussing right now, the race will be a run away success.

Let’s hope that the politicians recognize this opportunity and act on it.

« India vs Srilanka and the group of death… :+: Malakar Mania (TM) »
Discuss in our off-topic forums