Unofficial Indian Grand Prix Site

Well good news and bad news.

The good news is that it really doesn’t look like Force India F1 team is in a financial crunch, i mean signing new brand ambassadors (Deepika Padhukone) , inviting actresses to launch parties etc.

The bad news is that the Indian F1 fan is again ignored. Instead of sponsoring an Indian fan to a F1 race, it seems that Force India F1 only cares about glamour. They have launched a show called Speed Divas with MTV which will hunt for 4 girls who will accompany the Force India F1 team globally.

The winner also gets to act in a motion picture (woohoo ?)

Honda Formula One Team was recently forced to close its F1 division due to a financial crunch

Formula One and the world is facing the toughest ever phase in its glorious history. This recession has had many a victim including top auto firms who have resorted to asking their respective governments for bailout packages. Honda was forced to shut down its formula one division, a decision which they painfully had to take on an earlier occasion too when the going had gotten tough.

Bernie Ecclestone has made it clear that formula one teams who are expecting to be paid more should lower their expectations and would infact be paid comparatively lesser.

Taking a potshot at the corporate culture in the formula one team, Bernie Ecclestone said that earlier on negotiations used to be easy and crisp and you only had to talk to the man with the money and hence the control. But these days teams come with lawyers and ‘masseurs’ and cant seem to agree on anything.

This year F1 teams are also vying for the share of the pie that Honda F1 has left in F1. Most F1 teams are going through a rough patch primarily due to the shortage of sponsors. As big corporate houses face a credit and liquidity crunch, their expenditure on advertising also decreases. And the first to go is usually the outrageous expenses on formula one teams.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has reiterated his commitment to India for holding the 2011  formula one Indian Grand Prix. He was asked in an interview if the 2011 Indian Grand Prix was still going ahead.

Responding to the question coolly, Bernie said that ofcourse the plan was on and that is the reason why an agreement had been inked with the organisers of the Indian Grand Prix. The question was asked amid conflicting reports on the current status of the Indian Grand Prix.

The formula one Indian Grand Prix was first scheduled to be held in 2010. It was then postponed to 2011 . Bernie attributed the delay to prior contracts but the popular press opinion had been that it was due to the laziness of the Indian Grand Prix organisers.

Further justifying the formula one Indian Grand Prix , Bernie Ecclestone had the following to say :

“It’s a large, large country with a big population and it’s good for the sponsors, good for the car manufacturers and its good for everyone involved in Formula One to be in their country,” 

“I doubt in India anything will be a rival to cricket, but let’s see.”

Bernie Ecclestone said.

India just got another place to be noticed on the formula one track. After Narain Karthikeyan’s run in Jordan, Tata promoting Williams F1, Mallya buying Force India formula one team, Tata TCS will be now seen on the Ferrari formula one team’s chasis.

”For the first time an Indian brand will appear on the Ferrari,” president Luca di Montezemolo said

Another Ferrari representative was quoted as saying that the deal was historic. This is a great shot in the arm for Formula One which was in dire straits after the announcement by Honda Formula One team. Most people were anticipating sponsor pullouts and further team pullouts. So an announcement by TCS that it shall sponsor the Ferrari formula one team comes as a breath of fresh air and would also bring global recognition to the Indian software major.

The TCS logo will share space with other brands such as Alice, Shell, AMD, Magnetti and Acer. TCS has been providing software solutions to Ferrari from 2007.

“Building on our existing long-term relationship of over three years, Tata Consultancy Services has entered into an historic agreement with Ferrari for an enhanced technology and marketing partnership,”

“As part of the deal, the Tata logo will be displayed on Ferrari FI car for the 2009 Formula One season,” TCS said in a statement.

It may also be of interest to some of the readers, that Tata Motors and FIAT market cars jointly and FIAT gets its cars serviced via Tata Motors.

Later statement by Ferrari formula one team :

Maranello, 19th December 2008 – Ferrari is pleased to announce the extension of its collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services.
TCS, a world leader in the field of Information Technology consultancy, has been a partner of the Maranello Company since 2004, in the capacity of Official Supplier.
This new agreement means that the TATA logo will be present on the Ferrari Formula 1 cars for the next three years.

Vijay Mallya dismissed Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok saying that they werent F1 material. But a lot of support has come in for them from different quarters.

Reacting sharply to Vijay Mallya’s criticism for the 2 drivers,  a lot for people came out in support of both Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok

First to show his support was Bernie Ecclestone who also sees the commercial side of things in India. While the world battles an economic crisis, India is one of the countries which has put up a braver face. His support came for Karun Chandhok , he said Karun’s place is in formula one :

“The time is getting closer for F1 to be in India, which is something I am really enthusiastic about, and hopefully Karun Chandhok will be an important part of it.  His place is in F1” Bernie Ecclestone said

Tiago Monteiro came in support of his former teammate Narain Karthikeyan, he went on to say that Narain Karthikeyan can even win grand prix given the right car

“F1 is all about the car you are given. Give Narain a race-winning car and he will win races I can guarantee you” Tiago Monteiro said

And now come the people gunning for Mallya :

James Roberts said :

“Narain was abnormally brave in his ability to stay committed in high-speed corners in that Jordan car. Over one lap he may actually be even quicker than Giancarlo Fisichella . Karun is a great talent. I am surprised at what Mallya has said.”

Peter Windsor (according to an Indian newspaper said)

“It’s amusing when people who have made a lot of money come to F1 and make such ridiculous statements. It makes one wonder how they ever made that money! There is absolutely no question that Karun Chandhok has the ability to do well. He is at least as good as Adrian Sutil “

It appears that Mallya might have made the wrong comments at the wrong time !

Probably this news is something which got lost in all the hodge podge on the Internet. As you may be aware, Mika Hakkinen was in India pretty recently. He had come as part of driving responsibly campaign by Johhny Walker. When asked about the Indian Grand Prix , he replied :

“I believe that a Grand Prix should be held in India as I understand that the interest in the sport is growing massively among the Indian population and it would be great for the fans to have a home Grand Prix”

He also ruled a return to formula one, when asked about it, Mika Hakkinen replied :

“I won’t be making a comeback in Formula One racing but I always enjoy driving a Formula One car when I have the opportunity”

As expected the Force India formula one has switched over to McLaren from Ferrari for engine supply. Lets see if this partnership can change their fortunes.

Force India Formula One Team Announces Technical Partnerships With Mclaren Applied Technologies, Mercedes-Benz Highperformanceengines And Eads

Force India Formula One Team is pleased to announce a major new partnership that will propel the team forward for the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship and beyond; a ground-breaking technical partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies (which is a company wholly owned by the McLaren Group) and with Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines.

In a unique long term deal, the Force India Formula One Team VJM02 cars will be powered by engines designed and built by Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, the first time that the legendary manufacturer has supplied another chassis constructor other than McLaren. Additionally, Force India will have access to the McLaren Group’s network of bespoke suppliers that has supported this year’s World Championship victory.

McLaren Applied Technologies will additionally supply the Force India Formula One Team cars with McLaren Racing gearboxes and hydraulic systems and will provide operational support to ensure Force India functions at its highest possible level.

The Force India Formula One Team also plans to fit its cars with a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) that is currently being developed by Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines and McLaren Racing (which is also a company wholly owned by the McLaren Group).

In conjunction with aerospace company EADS – which, like McLaren and Mercedes, is also a global leader in its field – Force India Formula One Team announced that it will soon be expanding the computational fluid dynamics capability of its Brackley Aero Centre facility.

Dr. Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director of Force India, commented: ‘We are absolutely delighted to be able to announce a technical partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies and Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, and also our plan to expand the composite manufacturing capability and drawing office within our Silverstone facility.

‘McLaren and Mercedes-Benz are two of the most famous names in motorsport history, having achieved great success in Grand Prix racing over many years, and most recently, a superb victory in probably the most dramatic World Championship Formula 1 has seen.

‘These new resources and developments will provide an enormous boost to our technical armoury and, as a result, we have high hopes of making good progress in 2009 and beyond.

‘Force India Formula One Team has been in existence for only one year, and inevitably our first season has constituted a learning period. But we said at the outset that we meant business and were not interested in merely making up the numbers. The announcement of our new technical partnership, combined with the new developments and resources outlined above, clearly underlines that we meant what we said. I would like personally to thank Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley, both of whom offered their assistance and support throughout the gestation of this deal.’

‘Interest in Formula One in India, especially among the 300-million-plus professional-class demographic as well as in neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Abu Dhabi with a large Indian population, is growing at astonishing levels. Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone has declared plans to stage an Indian Grand Prix in 2011, in Delhi, our capital city, by which time Force India Formula One Team will be exactly that: a Formula One force in, and for, India.’

Force India supremo Vijay Mallya announced that he would leave no stone unturned in order to ensure that Force India formula one team gets the best Engine Suppliers, Drivetrain and KERS for the 2009 formula one season.

The performance of Force India this year has been really poor with Adrian Sutil coming within point scoring distance only once , and that time too he couldnt finish the race. Giancarlo Fisichella too looked good in the earlier part of the season, but the overall performance of the Force India formula one team has been really pathetic especially in the second half of the season.

We are now bringing Force India’s debut season to a close in Brazil. I have given the team all the resources they required and I expected significant improvement. As the statistics have shown, we have improved and are now much closer to the midfield, but our progress has rather flattened out since the mid-season. Relative to other teams, we haven’t made as much progress as they have, but to be fair to the team after Hungary I made a conscious decision to put time and resources into 2009.

As many of the media has reported, we are currently looking into our package for next season and I hope I will be able to announce a deal very shortly. I will make sure that my team has the best solution for engine, drivetrain and KERS possible so we can get a good head start and try to get the points that have eluded us so far this season. 

Before we get to that stage however I would like to see a strong performance in Brazil. We are not finished yet – one more race represents one more chance to score points. While we’re realistic, we can’t give up yet.  Mr. Vijay Mallya said

Good for the team that Mr. Mallya is optimistic, but as a fan i am yet to see concrete improvements in the team atleast in the second half. Hopefully their 2009 challenge will be much stronger.

Trust Vijay Mallya to make things glamourous. As if his Indian Empress parties were not enough, he invited a whole bouquet of stars to the Singapore Grand Prix who interacted and posed along with his crew :

1. Sonam Kapoor and Imran Khan posed with the drivers Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella and also with the car chasis.

2. Shilpa Shetty also enjoyed her time at the Force India PIT Garage :

All Images are Force India Media Images

Well the critics of the Indian Grand Prix have been proved right. It seems that India will not be ready to host a formula one grand prix by 2010. 2010 is also the year when India hosts the Commonwealth Games at New Delhi.

“It’s all going on as usual, but these things take time,”  “Probably 2011 is what I want.” Bernie Ecclestone was quoted by newspapers

Meanwhile Force India formula one team supremo Vijay Mallya acted surprised, he said that the track would be ready by 2010 and didnt really know what Bernie was thinking.

“The track will be ready next year and we will let Bernie decide. I don’t know what’s on his mind…but he makes the schedule.”