Inspired Performance by Narain Karthikeyan in Indian Grand Prix

The Formula One Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida witnessed history being created when Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok participated in the First Practice. Narain is driving for HRT team in this Grand Prix and Karun Chandhok who is a test driver with Team Lotus was given the chance to drive in the First Practice of the Indian Grand Prix.

As Narain has been saying for a long time, it was an emotional moment for him to drive infront of the home audience. Though Narain hasn't driven a race since July when he was replaced by the Red Bull funded Daniel Ricciardo, Narain has shown his pace. At the end of First Practice, as per the Official Formula1.com  news Daniel Ricciardo was 1 m 33.928 seconds and "Karthikeyan was respectably close at 1m 34.113s". It would be pertinent to mention that having track time is very important. One can't just jump into a formula 1 car and be fast. You need lot of time in the car. This fact is reiterated by many Formula 1 drivers like Johnny Herbert ( check for his quote here http://arjunaubacha.blogspot.com/2011/09/finally-indian-f1-driver-to-race-in.html ) and three time Formula 1 champion Nikki Lauda

In the Second Practice, Narain was even closer to Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo was 1m 32.768s with Narain only 0.056 seconds slower. It was an impressive showing considering Narain has been so long out in the wilds.

In the Third Practice on saturday morning, Narain Karthikeyan was 22nd fastest with a time of 1m 39.900 seconds, Jerome Ambrosio of Virgin at 1m 32.851s ad Daniel Ricciardo of HRT at 1m 32.246s. This has been a very impressive weekend for Narain. If Narain continues with such impressive showing in the Qualifying later today and in the Race tomorrow, then we can safely predict that many more corporates and people will get excited and will start following Formula 1. When a large economy like India starts putting its weight behind Formula 1, it will change Formula 1 for the better.

EDIT: Narain Karthikeyan finished 22nd in the Qualifying however he could not have the satisfaction of beating his teammate Dainel Ricciardo as he was just 0.022 seconds ie. just 22nd thousandth of a second slower than Ricciardo. Narain clocked a time of 1m 30.238seconds  vs 1m 30.216 seconds of Ricciardo.
Jerome D' Ambrosio and Timo Glock of  Virgin racing finished 23rd and 24th.

EDIT 2: Race Result
Narain Karthikeyan had an excellent race. He had a good start and despite a contact with Jarno Truli in the opening lap, he was running as high as 15th in the early stages of the race. Narain Karthikeyan finished at 17th in the race ahead of his highly rated teammate and RED bull protegee Daniel Ricciardo. Jarno Truli of Team Lotus finished 19th. If he would not have had the penalty slapped on him for blocking Michael Schumacher during qualifying, then definitely he would have had a better race. He said "It is an awesome feeling to have completed the first ever Indian Grand Prix and to have bveen competitive with our main rivals which proved a lot of points".

Formula 1 is all about Money Honey!

F1 is all about Money, Honey!

Formula One is all about money. First and foremost, Formula one is a business and then it is motorsports. 

This principle has been proved time and again and the formula one teams make no effort to hide it.

Driver Contracts:

In the last few days, this adage has been proved once again by the HRT team. Narain Karthikeyan was the first driver to be signed by the HRT team and at that time Narain Karthikeyan was quoted as saying that his contract is for the entire season. However, just before Silverstone race, Narain Karthikeyan was dropped by HRT team and Daniel Ricciardo was brought in with sponsorship from Red Bull. At that time, it was known that Narain Karthikeyan will return to the HRT cockpit for the Indian Grand Prix.

Liuzzi had earlier mentioned that he has contract for the entire season so there was no question of Narain replacing him in the Indian Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo during his promotional demonstration for Red Bull in New Delhi had said that he expected to sit out for Narain as it is contractual and had said that he would take part in the first practice on Friday. However, HRT team has now issued a statement that it will be Liuzzi who will sit out in the Indian Grand Prix.

With so much of money riding in on Daniel Ricciardo - who is highly valued by the Red Bull team and is expected to replace one of their drivers from the Torro Rosso team – it is natural that Daniel Ricciardo gets to drive in Indian Grand Prix and Tonio Liuzzi is replaced by Narain. It is purely a case of money, and contracts are never a obstacle in Formula 1. In Cricket they say, Records are meant to be broken. Similarly, in Formula 1 they say, Contracts are meant to be broken.

Interestingly, Vintanio Liuzzi who was driving for Force India team in 2010 had a valid contract to drive in 2011. However, the Vijay Mallya led team decided to give chance to the Mercedes backed Paul DiResta and decided that it was lucrative to replace and compensate Vintanio Liuzzi.

Name change:

The formula one teams routinely try to interpret the clauses to get some extra amount of money. The formula one rules state that the Formula One teams can change their name subject to ratification by all the other teams. Though this clause was created to stop any team from infringing on the brand name of another, the teams routinely try to use this clause to stop other teams from changing their names. For example, even after BMW exited the sport, the Sauber team continued to use the BMW name else, they would have forfeited the prize money. Similarly, Renault exited the sport after the team was indicted of deliberately conspiring with its driver Nelso Piquet Jr. to crash in Singapore race. So though Genii capital became the majority shareholder, the team still bears the name Renault. Recently, the Mercedes Team Principal Ross Brawn also shared his view on this topic and said that a few teams want to derive benefit out of this issue.

Team orders aka Match Fixing:

Each team in formula one is allowed to have two drivers and team orders were banned. So technically one driver of a team cannot be asked to move aside to give way for his team mate. In the past, teams used to send coded messages to their driver to give room for their higher ranked fellow driver to pass. However, recently the team order controversy has been given a burial as FIA has legalized team orders saying that it is difficult to implement. So what amounts to match fixing in other sports, is a routine thing in formula 1. In the commercial world of Formula 1, money comes first and sport later. 

F1 circuit planned in Mumbai

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has appointed a consortium to prepare the masterplan and business case for a new multi-purpose race circuit and regeneration project in Mumbai. This consortium has experience of designing the 2012 Olympic stadium and the new layout of the Silverstone track. They have to identify potential locations in and around mumbai which can have several associated developments leading to regeneration of Mumbai. They will also create a business case for the longterm financial viability of this circuit and will also keep the social and environmental aspects in mind. The consortium will work closely wit FIA and FIM, the governing bodies for Formula 1 and motorcycling respectively.

Considering that several countries have two venues, India too can have two venues. With a population of 1.21 billion, India can very well have two circuits and have races in the same year. The Budh International Circuit which will have its first race on 30th October 2011, is in North India in the state of Uttar Pradesh and the circuit in Mumbai, if it happens, being located in the west in the state of Maharashtra will be more than 1000 kms apart and will be able to be financially successful.

Team Lotus sells minority shareholding to Indian Investor

Team Lotus which is currently placed 10th in the Forumla 1 Grid and is owned by Tony Fernandes of Air Asia and his partners is likely to announce a deal to sell a minority stake. It is said that Gaurav Burman, who is the younger son of former Dabur India Chairman V C Burman has invested about 10 million USD and acquired a minority stake. In the next two or three years he is supposed to scale up his share holding to around 50% by investing about 50 million USD.

Gaurav Burman is married to controversial Lalit Modi's step-daughter and is a director in the AIM listed equity fund Elephant Capital Plc. He is also a Co-owner in the Kings XI Punjab team. This investment is likely to result in more interest generation in motor sports in India. Whether this investment is likely to result in Karun Chandhok getting a drive in the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix is yet to be seen.

This investment confirms that staging a Formula 1 race in India is proving to be beneficial to the entire Formula 1 as a sport. Sahara group has already bought 42.5% stake in the FI team. Tata Motors, Hero Motors, Base Batteries, MRF Tyres are sponsors of Narain Karthikeyan. Amul is sponsoring Sauber for the Indian Grand Prix. After watching the inaugural Grand Prix, there are likely to be many more corporates jumping into the Formula 1 bandwagon. The huge crowds and viewership of F1 is going to have its own pull.
There are exciting times ahead. 

Sachin Tendulkar doesn't support Indian Driver

Sachin Tendulkar - the God of Cricket - will neither support his friend Michael Schumacher nor India's only driver in the Indian Grand Prix Narain Karthikeyan, but will root for Sahara Force India team which has majority ownership with Indian groups Sahara and UB. Sachin said that he is excited about the Indian Grand Prix. "I will support the Force India Team. I have friends like Michael Schumacher but I will support Force India because it is an Indian team and the country comes first".

Whereas Sachin supporting an Indian team is logical, however, it seems he is improperly briefed as the Force India aka Sahara Force India cannot claim to be an Indian team as the only thing Indian is the majority ownership. See my earlier article on this issue titled "Force India: Neither Force nor India"  http://arjunaubacha.blogspot.com/2011/08/force-india-neither-force-nor-india.html  The question is if UB group buys a Pakistani team and names it Super Force India or something like that, will we agree that it is an Indian team? Force India has nothing to do with India, except that its majority ownership is Indian and they are eyeing sponsorship from India. Its the Indian money they are after and nothing else. Neither they employ many Indians nor do they take Indian drivers. Just to divert the issue of not taking Indian drivers, the FI Team Principal has started a cart competition in small cement tracks.

After Sahara group's recent take over of 42.5% ownership, the policy of No Indian drivers remains. Read No Indian drivers for Sahara Force India (http://arjunaubacha.blogspot.com/2011/10/no-indian-drivers-for-sahara-force.html )

In this scenario, it is unfortunate that a man of integrity and patriotic Indian who always values India above everything else, has been made to believe that the Sahara Force India team is an Indian team. Sachin Tendulkar has been cheated into believing that he is supporting an Indian Team. If they can cheat Sachin Tendulkar, that means that their propaganda machinery is working well. 

Formula 1 : Sports or entertainment

Formula 1 has not been recognised as a sport in India by the Ministry of Sports. The Jaypee group which has built the racing circuit had secured an exemption from paying entertainment tax from the Governmet of UP.

In a twist to the tale, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court of India against granting of exemption from paying entertainment tax. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has now directed the respondent Jaypee Group to deposit 25% of the ticket sales in a special bank account till the court decides on the matter.

Earlier, BJP Youth leader and Member of Parliament Varun Gandhi too had raised his voice against the exemption granted by the UP Government. He had said that Formula 1 is like wrestling in WWF, which is stage manged and is not a sport in the true sense.

Though comparison with WWF may be a bit of hyperbole, there is a large majority who agree that with team orders being legal in Formula 1, one doesn't see true racing and hence may not be classified as a true sport like athletics. 

Base Batteries unveils battery for HRT Formula one car

Base batteries had earlier announced its tie up with HRT team due to Narain Karthikeyan driving for it. Today, in a glittering ceremony in New Delhi, Base battery finally launched its battery for Formula 1 Cars and it was unveiled by India's First Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan. Base Batteries became the first Indian Battery manufacturer to become the official supplier of a Formula 1 Car.

The battery specs were listed as 114mm x 39mm x 87mm (LxWxH) at 12V, 2.3 amperes and weighing 0.9 kg. The batteries have got improved charge recovery capability from near or deeply discharged conditions. It has got a longer shelf life and as is expected the batteries can withstand extreme vibrations. The battery uses silver instead of lead and that is supposed to give higher performance and being better for the environment. The R&D budget for developing this battery is supposed to be to the tune of 3 million USD. It is to be seen whether this battery will be fitted to the HRT car during the coming Indian Grand Prix.

Colin Kolles, the HRT Team Principal said "We are confident that the innovative design and the world class technology that Base Batteries bring to the HRT race car is in sync with our ambitions to excel. We are looking forward to a long standing and wonderful partnership with Base Batteries in the coming years. "

With the sponsorship, albeit for one race by Hero Motors, if Narain Karthikeyan is able to do well in the Indian Grand Prix, then many sponsors will get convinced to sponsor HRT. Oct 30th is going to be a watershed day in the history of Indian Motor Sports.