A month ago, there was a lot of chatter about Karun facing the axe from the HRT team, for a lack of funds. While similar rumors had been circulating since the start of the season, there were a couple of incidents that week, which made me believe them. First there was Karun talking up the idea of an Indian driver at Force India F1 and how it would attract sponsors. But the second and more significant event was Karun’s mom, Chitra Chandhok re-tweeting fan’s messages referring to the rumor about …

Renault Roadshow in Delhi
With an amazing season coming to an end, the F1 circus, Renault in particular, took a detour to India before heading home.

The road show of the F1 team, sponsored by ING Vysya, will have a spectacular display of the 2007 Renault F1 cars driving down the Rajpath. The show will comprise stunts by professional drivers on Renault Megane Trophy cars, the Toon cars and the display of their Logan cars.
Delhi GP delayed by a year
Meanwhile, Delhi’s GP has been delayed by a year [Tip F1 Fan]. There …

Karun in the RBR pits. Image from http://karunchandok.com

Karun Chandok made the best use of his test with Red Bull Racing, driving alongside David Coulthard, the past two days. Sitting in the cockpit of the Red Bull senior team’s car, powered by Renault engines, Karun managed to set the 18th fastest time on track on the first day. He was only trailed by the two Force India cars. Although teams test various components and set up’s, they normally run the car for a few laps on low fuel for the …

We reported earlier this month about a decision the the Indian F1 GP in Delhi and it looks like progress has been made.

India has sealed a deal to host its first Formula 1 grand prix from 2010, the country’s Olympic Association (IOA) has announced.
IOA president Suresh Kalmadi confirmed that Formula One Management had approved two prospective sites for a circuit on the outskirts of New Dehli and that F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone had given the green light for it to make the final decision on which site to use.
The …

It is official. Alonso and Hamilton have just completed a McLaren 1,2 at Monza. But the talking point in the Indian context is that the decision on the venue for the Indian GP is expected in a week.
This piece of news is probably a week old, but sadly slipped under the UD radar. But SPEEDTV analysts, while covering the race have just reported that F1 designer Herman Tilke (the main brain behind tracks such as Baharin, Shanghai and Malaysia) was in India last week to survey the proposed sites. Tilke …

Part 1: Our Analysis on the circuit location is here
The Taj will be one of the major attractions. Photo from Saad.
Street circuit or not, F1 is coming to India, Bernie thinks, its better than the USGP.
Anywho, is this a boon for India or as Ashoe put it, a resource hog?
A one off GP will be a resource hog, the ROI, will not make any sense. But FOM signs a multi-year deal with most venues. We can safely assume at this point that this is the case with India.
Here …

Is this the possible location of India’s new F1 street circuit? (Click for a larger version)
Image from Yahoo Maps India.
Over the past few months in covering the possibility of an Indian GP, Delhi was the name that came up time and again. Back in January, at the Launch of the Toyota race car, Vijay Mallya made a statement saying The Government of Delhi and him wanted a GP for India.
He followed up in March after a meeting with the Chief Minister Sheila Dixit. Being a close friend of …

Delhi is get’s its F1 slot for 2009. Suresh Kalmadi, the president of the Indian Olympic Association confirmed this in a news conference.
We have received a letter in this regard from Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One. The IOA will be the promoter and the first event will be held in 2009. Suresh Kalmadi
We have covered this possibility before here. here and here.
Look for a detailed analysis in our next post.

We wrote earlier about the possibility of a street racing circuit in Delhi as early as 2009. The project is supported by F1 supremo Bernie, The Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dixit and the Indian Richard Branson, Vijay Mallya.
Now the German architect and designer of Formula One motor racing circuits Hermann Tilke visited India.
Tilke has been responsible for designing many recent circuits from scratch. These include
* 1998 Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
* 2004 Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain
* 2004 Shanghai …

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.

The International sport press is buzzing with activity after Vijay Mallya (a close associate of Bernie aka. The Daddy of F1) said he has always wanted to bring F1 to India.

Image from Forbes

“It has always been my dream to bring Formula One to India,” he told a news conference on the sidelines of the launch of Toyota’s new TF107 car.
“The government of Delhi I think really wants Formula One in India and I am optimistic that maybe we will be able to host our first race in 2009.”