Indian Grand Prix

Indian Grand Prix

Buddh International Circuit
Race information
Laps	60
Circuit length	5.14 km (3.19 mi)
Race length	308.4 km (191.6 mi)
Number of times held	1
First held	2011
Most wins (drivers)	Sebastian Vettel
Most wins (constructors)	Red Bull
Last race (2011):
Pole position	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:24.178
Podium	1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:30:35.002 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +4.8 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +5.8
Fastest lap	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:27.249

"The Circuit Official Logo"

The Indian Grand Prix (Hindi: भारतीय ग्रां प्री; sometimes referred to as the Grand Prix of India) is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. The first event took place on 30 October 2011 as the 17th race of the 2011 Formula One season, The new race track was officially homologated on 1 September 2011 by Charlie Whiting, and the inaugural race was won by Germany's Sebastian Vettel.

History

As early as 1997, there have been plans to host an Indian Grand Prix at Calcutta. In 2003, India had only two permanent raceways, one in Chennai (Irungattukottai), and Kari Memorial Speedway in Coimbatore. At that time two 600 acres (2.4 km²) sites in the vicinity of the Bangalore airport were examined. Also, in the state Andhra Pradesh, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu reserved 1,500 acres (6.1 km²) of land near the airport at Hyderabad. Vicky Chandhok, father of Karun Chandhok, stated in an interview that "Andhra Pradesh is really pushing it like no other state! It is great to see a chief minister pushing so hard. Bangalore is a great location mainly because of the weather". In December 2003, a seven-year pre-agreement to host the GP in Hyderabad in 2007 was signed. The track was to be built near Gopanapally village, near the outskirts of Hyderabad, and consisted of 1,367 acres (5.53 km²) of land. However, in 2004 there came competition from Mumbai, to shift the track from Hyderabad to Mumbai instead. F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone expected India to host a Grand Prix within three years, aiming for locating at either Hyderabad or Mumbai. But in the end these projects never realised, possibly due to anti-tobacco legislation, and a change in government policy. Both projects then were declared 'dead' in the second half of 2004, when Mumbai's government decided "not to waste money on car fumes while there are more serious issues", and the Hyderabad location was converted to an IT park for technology companies. However sites at Mumbai were still being investigated (Gorai and Navi Mumbai). In 2005, Narain Karthikeyan was to perform in Mumbai in the Jordan F1, but the road proved to be too bumpy.

As of 2007, five locations remained in the running for hosting the Indian Grand Prix: Bangalore, the Gurgaon district in the state of Haryana, a permanent track somewhere near New Delhi, a street circuit in New Delhi, as proposed by Vijay Mallya, and a site in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Following months of negotiations, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Bernie Ecclestone announced in June 2007 a provisional agreement for India to host its first Grand Prix in the 2009 F1 season. The track would be built in Gurgaon, on recommendation by architect Hermann Tilke.

However, in September 2007 the IOA announced that the debut race would take place in 2010 on the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. After further assessments of the timeframe involved, Bernie Ecclestone announced in September 2008 that the Indian Grand Prix has been delayed to 2011.

In October 2008, the Renault F1 team showcased their car on a tour across all sites that were previously linked to an F1 circuit in India (except Mumbai): Gurgaon, Lucknow, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Calcutta, and in November 2008 they also performed a street demonstration on Rajpath at the India Gate end, New Delhi, the car being driven by Nelson Piquet, Jr.. In August 2009, the McLaren F1 team showcased their car in Lucknow. On 11 October 2009, the Red Bull F1 team gave a demonstration in Mumbai. David Coulthard drove the Red Bull F1 car across Mumbai's Bandra Worli Sealink. The Indian F1 Race will occur as the 17th round of the 2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Races

Season-2011: 28-30 October 2011: On 30 October 2011, the first F1 Grand Prix was held at the circuit. Sebastian Vettel won the event, his 11th of the season. He also had the fastest lap of the race on his last lap although his team was telling him to "just bring it home". Sachin Tendulkar waved the chequered flag to welcome Sebastian Vettel. Redbull won the Constructors Trophy. The only Indian F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan of HRT F1 finished 17th position. The only Indian F1 Team Sahara Force India driver Adrian Sutil finished at 9th position.

Winners

Year by year

Year	Driver	Constructor	Location	Report
2011	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Greater Noida	Report

Sponsors

• Airtel Grand Prix of India 2011 – 2016 for 34 crore

Circuit

The race was held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, 24 km from Delhi. The circuit, designed by F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke, is 5.141 kilometres (3.194 mi). The track has spread across an area of 875 acres. The initial seating capacity is speculated to be around 150,000. However there are plans to increase the seating capacity to 200,000 later on. The sprawling circuit is a part of Jaypee Green Sports city and will also be used for hosting one or more rounds of Moto GP championships in the year 2012. The 10-year contract for the race has been given to the Indian construction company Jaiprakash Associates.

The track in all has 16 largely medium speed corners where F1 cars will lap at an average speed of 210 km/h. The back straight will let F1 cars reach 320 km/h making it one of the fastest tracks in the world. The expected F1 car lap time is 1 minute 27 seconds. The organizers have also taken feedback from teams which have done the track analysis via simulators leading to modification of the turn 7 in order to maximize overtaking opportunities into banked turn 10. A grand stand with a capacity of 13,000 will overlook the turn 10 and turn 11 giving the F1 fans an opportunity to be a part of the action.

Says Samir Gaur, MD and CEO of JPSI Sports, a subsidiary of Jaiprakash Associates, "Land acquisition for the 5.5 km track is on and we are hopeful of completing the exercise by February. The designer and contractor for the job too, have been finalised and we are sure of getting the track ready by February 2011, in time for the championship." According to Ashok Khurana, executive vice-chairman of JPSI, the core area of the circuit would be spread over 4,000 hectares and building the infrastructure of the circuit would cost between 12 billion and 15 billion (US$309 million/£188 million/€216 million, at exchange rates of 21 August 2009).

The latest development (January 2010) with the circuit in India was the appointment of Mark Hughes, former number 2 at the Bahrain International Circuit for 5 years and also advisor to the Yas Marina Circuit for their first Grand Prix at the end of 2009. But on 24 January 2011, Hughes confirmed that he quit the Indian job due to 'personal reasons'. His post later went to Mr. Azhar Rehman, a former race organiser in Sepang, Malaysia. It is the second fastest circuit in the world with top speed of about 324 km/h.^{[citation needed]}

Economic benefits

The Indian Grand Prix has the potential to generate around $170 million in revenue and employ as many as 10,000 people. The opportunity in advertising tie-ups between manufacturers and F1 are also a consideration. The race also coincides with the important Diwali holiday, when consumer spending is typically at its highest and many people are travelling which further improves economic prospects.

Reactions

Vijay Mallya said, after signing a sponsorship agreement between his Kingfisher Airlines and the Force India team, (of which he is also team principal) that he was confident the sport would come to the subcontinent. "It has always been my dream to bring Formula One to India," he told a news conference on the sidelines of the launch of Force India's car in 2008. "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."

Both the Motorsports Association of India and the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India have expressed some scepticism. The latter's president, Rajat Mazumder, has said that "The only authorised body that can run motorsports in the country is ours" despite the fact the deal has been signed with the Indian Olympic Association.

Increased awareness has led to the popularity of merchandise, Formula 1 tickets and race tours to F1 destinations. Tickets worth 1.25 crore were bought in the first three hours of sales. The organisers were expecting a full house, but actual race day turnout was 95,000.

External links

• F1 Indian Grand Prix
• Formula 1
• Exhaustive Coverage of Indian F1 Grand Prix (Pics and Report)