With the Grand Prix of India set to roll in a few hours, the country can well and truly claim to have arrived on the international motor-sport stage. First dreamed of almost a decade ago, it took the initiative of a private sector player to make it
actually happen, and if the tide is taken at the right time, it could well lead to very big things for the industry as a whole in the country. More than anything else — particularly in the light of the serial fiascos that dogged the Commonwealth Games last year and did so much to damage the national image — it was important that the next big show be a good one. From what we have seen so far, the signs are propitious. Barring a stray dog on the track, it has all gone with clockwork smoothness at the spanking new purpose-built Buddh International Circuit. As far as the racing itself is concerned, it will pretty much be business as usual with world champion Sebastian Vettel taking his 13th pole position of the season for Red Bull, former world champion Lewis Hamilton in trouble again with race officials, and the rest of the field lining up behind. The circuit has earned high praise already with Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber, describing the BIC track surface as being amongst the smoothest in the world, and it is all set up rather well for the race itself, the 19th on the year’s Formula One calendar.
As an additional benefit, the race also brings to India some legendary names associated with the sport — those of Ferrari as a team, and Michael Schumacher, Jackie Stewart and Eddie Jordan to name a few individuals. While the F1 circus is in many ways a sealed package that moves from country to country within hours of a race concluding, there are spin-off benefits as well. For the burgeoning motor industry in India, it is a golden opportunity to be associated, even in a peripheral way, with cutting-edge technology. For the many other arms and wings of the business that come into play when a Formula One race comes visiting — logistics, transport, catering, software, you name it — the lessons from interacting for and with benchmark standards will be of immense benefit. Certainly, eyebrows have been raised at the thought of what is still basically a Third World nation playing host to the most expensive sport in the world, but the flip side is that this is entirely a private initiative that has come at no cost to government, has brought in its wake massive employment and revenue-generating opportunities, and, best of all, has made India look good. As a zero-sum game for India, this is indeed a bargain.