Unofficial Indian Grand Prix Site

Both Drivers were unable to complete the Australian Grand Prix 2008, Fisichella and Sutil both failed to finish the race. Here are the race notes of the team and select quotes :

Adrian Sutil (car 20, VJM01/02)

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21, VJM01/05)

The 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship got off to a disappointing start for the Force India Formula One Team today at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia. Despite encouraging performances throughout the weekend, with the two VJM01 cars featuring regularly in the top 15, the Australian Grand Prix ultimately brought a double retirement for the team. The disappointment was all the more bitter after a surprising race that produced only seven finishers. Giancarlo Fisichella, starting from 16th on the grid following Timo Glock’s 10-place penalty, was a victim of a first-corner accident involving Glock and Piquet, with the resulting damage ending his Force India debut on the spot. Adrian Sutil started from the pit lane after his qualifying incident cracked his chassis. The German however avoided Giancarlo’s accident and had graduated to 13th position by lap eight, however a hydraulic pressure problem on the following lap also brought his day to a premature end. The team will now move from Australia to Malaysia for the second race of the year, with high hopes of improvements on this race result.

Adrian Sutil (car 20)

‘A big disappointment, especially when I watched the race afterwards, but it was good while it lasted. In the opening laps I could stay with the guys in front of me and could overtake to get up to 13th position, but then I had a hydraulic pressure problem. I had to go back to the pits, so at that point my race was over. We have to hope for more in Malaysia, but I think we showed an improvement over last year, particularly over the longer runs in practice, so I am confident we can really do better there.’

Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)

‘I am very disappointed as I lost the race at the first corner because another driver came in like a kamikaze into my car and it was very frustrating, especially considering a race like this where there was a possibility to score lots of points. It was a good opportunity and I am really disappointed. Let’s hope for more in Malaysia.’

Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer

‘A very disappointing first race for Force India and obviously a great opportunity to score points missed, although I am sure a lot of the press releases will also be saying that. Giancarlo was unlucky at the first corner, with someone outside him and with Glock and Piquet not under control coming down on the inside. He just had nowhere to go. With Adrian we had a hydraulic failure, a result of having to rebuild his car from yesterday and not being able to do any installation checks, which was a shame as he was running very competitively and would for sure have had a good result. But overall a positive weekend in terms of car pace and we have to look to get a better result in Malaysia.’

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director

‘I have been very pleased with this weekend, despite the frustration of going out early in this astonishing race. I was however very encouraged with the pace we showed in the practice sessions. Although qualifying was ultimately disappointing, last year in Australia this team was well off the pace, this year we were up with the midfield.

‘It was a shame we missed a point-scoring opportunity here. Overall it was an encouraging weekend and the positive is that we have another event in just one week’s time where we can try again.’

Shahrukh Khan is doing this free of cost it seems for Vijay Mallya !

Formula One coming to India in 2010 might be a big moment for India and formula one, but if Vijay Mallya has his way, the event will be even bigger for India.

Vijay Mallya owner of the Force India formula one team in an interview claimed that he had given one objective to the team :

“I have given one very clear objective - at the 2010 Indian Grand Prix Force India has to be on the podium”

Now thats a great objective, but might be a little far fetched !

China - A1 Team India’s Narain Karthikeyan made history today when he took his and the team’s first ever A1GP race win in this afternoon’s incident-packed Feature race at China’s Zhuhai International Circuit. Karthikeyan was joined on the podium by New Zealand’s Jonny Reid, who started from 10th on the grid, and South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg in third.

The 30-year-old Indian driver, who started from third on the grid, took the lead from New Zealand during the second pit stop window on lap 29 and, despite a huge amount of pressure and some excellent racing from Reid, Karthikeyan held off Black Beauty and went on the cross the line in first place and score India’s first A1GP win in the history of the sport.

South Africa’s Zaugg also enjoyed a strong race to take the final podium position, having started from ninth on the grid. Zaugg was under attack from Germany’s Michael Ammermüller during the last 10 laps of the 45 lap race but the 21-year-old South African pushed hard to take third place ahead of the German rookie who ultimately finished fourth.

Fifth place was taken by Great Britain’s Oliver Jarvis, who got away well from second on the grid and snatched the early lead from pole sitter Switzerland as Brazil, Ireland, Canada and Malaysia were all involved in an incident behind them at turn one, bringing out the safety car for four laps. Fast work in the pits during the first pit stop window allowed Switzerland to steal the lead when they rejoined the action while GBR fell back to sixth place.

Having enjoyed an early lead, the British and Swiss teams were both hampered with delays in their second pit stops due to technical issues, ultimately finishing in fifth and sixth positions respectively. Despite a disappointing finish, GBR’s Jarvis was clearly pushing hard, picking up a bonus point for setting the fastest lap in the Feature race on lap 29.

France, who finished the race seventh, was hit with a drive through penalty on lap 16 due to releasing their car unsafely from its first pit stop. As he drove past the USA pit box, Loic Duval caught the hose connected to one of the airguns causing a USA mechanic to be pulled to the ground.

Tomas Enge, making his A1GP race return for the Czech Republic after an absence of 10 months, had a superb afternoon, racing from 16th on the grid to finish a solid eighth.

Home nation China’s CongFu Cheng, who was running in sixth place on lap 31 after the second round of pit stops, fell down the order to 10th after taking a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The Chinese star was determined not to give up, charging past USA with five laps remaining and finally crossing the line in ninth place, picking up two valuable championship points, moving the team up one position in the overall championship standings.

Netherland’s Jeroen Bleekemolen was forced out of the action on lap nine due to a puncture caused by suspected suspension failure at the final corner while 12th placed Portugal received a drive through penalty on lap five for making a false start.

Narain Karthikeyan, who made history today by scoring India’s first ever A1GP win, praised his team’s brilliant work in the pits:

‘The team has been working really hard at pit stop practices and they’ve done a really good job this weekend. Both the pit stops were excellent and we got ahead but unfortunately I got stuck behind Pakistan on my out lap so I couldn’t push but I came out just ahead of Jonny. There was a lot of pressure towards the end but then his tyres went off as well as mine and then we were equal - after that I just got the job done.’

Press Release follows :

Giancarlo Fisichella and Franck Montagny kicked off the first day of the Force India Formula One Team’s test programme today at the Circuit de Jerez, southern Spain. Both drivers made their debut runs in the team’s burgundy and white challengers to aid the team with its extensive development programme this week.

The duo worked through a schedule of chassis development, general set-up work and continuing evaluation of the new-for-2008 standard ECU package, under which traction control is banned. In the afternoon, Fisichella also tried the ‘slick’ Bridgestone Potenza development tyre. Although the day went without major drama, the day was marred by several red flag periods and some minor mechanical issues and spins from both drivers, however with three further days of testing, the team is optimistic of completing its overall programme.

In total the team covered 118 laps, more than 500km, with both drivers evenly matched throughout the day. Fisichella finished a shade quicker with a lap of 1:21.424, set on the slick tyres, while Montagny’s best lap was a 1:21.559.

Fisichella will remain in the car for a second day’s testing, while Montagny hands over the wheel to Austrian Christian Klien tomorrow.

Team quotes
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer

‘Today was a slightly frustrating day of testing, with many red flags and a couple of minor mechanical issues on the cars, which meant we didn’t get through our whole programme. We did still manage to get some useful information from the two drivers however. Giancarlo worked on basic set up and continued electronic systems development and, at the end of the day, was able to do a preliminary run on the 2009 tyres which gave us some good information. Franck was working on electronic development and some set up parameters plus damper work and similarly gave us excellent feedback. Once again it was very useful to have this feedback from two professional drivers with experience of other cars.’

Giancarlo Fisichella
‘It’s my first day back in the car nearly two months after the last race in Brazil, plus my first with another car and new engine, and of course without the electronics. Considering this I am quite happy about how the day went though. We did have a couple of issues so I didn’t run as much as I would have liked; with new tyres I had a problem with the hydraulic pressure, and when I tried out the slick tyres there was a problem on the diff so we didn’t get a proper idea of how the tyres will work. All the same I do think it’s been a positive day though and a good basis for tomorrow.’

Franck Montagny
‘It’s been a good day. We did have a bit of bad luck with our new tyre runs though – we had two new sets of tyres, and with the first set I stopped and the other there was a red flag. It was good fun and nice to work with the team. It was interesting to see how everyone works and I think we did quite a reasonable job together. Unfortunately the track is quite hard on tyres and we had a lot of degradation, which doesn’t help you do all the set up work we wanted to do today, but I enjoyed it all the same and I think the team got some useful information. Thank you to them for letting me have this opportunity.’

Testing data

Copyright Images : Peter J Fox/Crash Media

Favourable Points

As you may be aware , New Delhi is the suggested hosting city for F1 in India, some points go in its favour and some go against it. So we discuss the reasons which make Delhi the perfect choice and also a bad choice for a F1 race :

1. The Delhi government is the richest state Government in India, and the Central government also grants for Delhi’s development, so funds should not be a problem.

2. Delhi is one of the most well connected cities of India.

3. Its scheduled to hold the 2010 Commonwealth Games !, the development being undertaken can be easily seen on the roads, the infrastructure for the 2010 games can act as a facilitator for the formula one race too.

4. A huge fan following of formula one among one and all. So many people are hooked onto formula one.

5. The cultural aspect, New Delhi has a rich heritage which will help it attract more people during the formula one weekend.

Shortcomings

As you may be aware , New Delhi is the suggested hosting city for F1 in India, some points go in its favour and some go against it. So we discuss the reasons which make Delhi the not so perfect choice for a F1 race :

1. Lack of Hotel rooms, this is the single biggest hindrance, New Delhi has a shortage of five star and seven star accommodation, this will make the F1 teams really cranky

2. Where is the space? ,people ask where will the track be constructed ? , a valid question, the town planners should answer this. Apparently the place is in Greater Noida.

3. Lack of co-ordination, some people accused Suresh Kalmadi of walking alone which procuring a F1 race deal, also India has many racing organisations which love to feud.

4. Airport - The new airport will be ready by 2010 only, and Indian contractors usually delay by 1-2 years atleast.

Every year, out of all the weekends, 16 weekends are different. Millions of formula one enthusiasts in India queue up to watch their favorite sport in action. For them formula one offers all the thrills and spills that cricket does not give them. The sport of formula one is a very popular one in India, slowly and steadily, people are coming out of their homes and socialising with fellow formula one fans.

Cricket might be a religion in India, but F1 too is a way of life for many so the obvious question on formula one fans in India was “When will formula one come to India ?”

Thankfully it seems their prayers have been answered, after a number of rumours about F1 in Chennai, Mumbai or Bangalore, the final spot chosen for the race is in the capital city of New Delhi (Greater Noida).

Special thanks should be given to kingfisher chairman Dr. Vijay Mallya who has been instrumental in his support for the Indian Grand Prix. His airlines company Kingfisher Airlines is an official partner of the Toyota Formula One team and had brought Hermann Tilke (the great German Architect) to New Delhi.

But it has not been all support for the Indian Grand Prix, many Indian journalists who know nothing about formula one were made to write on the story. Those who were till yesterday writing articles on various other issues of India suddenly have become the BIGGEST critics of the Indian Grand Prix. So dont let these so called journalists deter you, show your support for the Indian Grand Prix

The logo used above is property of IndianGrandPrix.net and is not the official logo, its a fan logo designed by us. We are not affiliated to any of the corporations conducting the Indian Grand Prix.

The Indian formula one dream is an old one. I remember in around 1997 when i started watching formula one, no one watched with me. Seeing cars vrooming around didnt interest most people, but it did interest me.

Since that time formula one’s India connection has grown. Some of India and formula one’s connections are ::

1. Force India formula one team owned by Mr. Vijay Mallya, head of the UB Group.

2. Williams formula one team is sponsored by Indian corporate house, the TATA Group.

3. Kingfisher sponsors the Toyota formula one team.

4. Narain Karthikeyan became the first ever Indian to compete in formula one in the Jordan F1 team.

5. Karun Chandhok recently completed a test session in Red Bull formula one car, he is said to be the next big Indian in formula one. Backed by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, he is sure to make it big.

And the biggie :: India is all set to host a formula one grand prix in 2010 , just cant wait to hear the sound of formula one engines in India !!!!

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