Indian GP: Why does Bernie Ecclestone want to axe the race?

Is the sun setting on the Indian GP?

News has come out from the Hungarian Grand Prix paddock that the Indian Grand Prix will likely not be a part from of the calendar from 2014 onwards. Every Indian fan would have been shell-shocked to hear that as the sport was just starting to gather momentum in the country and the fans had started garnering hopes of seeing F1 cars whiz past them for many years to come.

But why is India facing the brunt? Has the decision been hastily made or was it long overdue? Let’s analyse the facts one by one.

First of all, Sochi and New Jersey are almost confirmed to host their inaugural Grands Prix next year. Assuming no other race is struck off, that makes it 21 races – one more than the longest season in history which was just last year. All looked well and good till last week, when the Austrian GP landed out of the blue.

With full financial backing from Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, it was only a matter of time for that to happen. So now we have a 22-race calendar, which according to the teams is too much to handle with extra pre-season tests required for the new power units. Even if the FIA tries to maintain the average two-week gap between races, the season is sure to spill into December, which is unacceptable.

It was agreed that the season would not extend to more than 2o races and, therefore, two races had to be axed. No surprises then as to which two were chosen – Korea and India.

One could argue as to how India could be dropped when the contract runs till 2015. Well, Formula 1 is a sport with profits running into millions of dollars and it is the duty of supremo Bernie Ecclestone to see from where he could earn profits of that scale without much hassle.

Here we can take up the interesting case of Bahrain. Desert, extreme heat, no atmosphere, riots and what not. Why is F1 staying there then? The answer lies in the financial conditions.

F1 earns revenue from three sources – race fee, track-side advertising and sponsorship, and TV broadcasting. With the current turmoil in the country, many sponsors don’t want their logos displayed on the cars as that could send a wrong signal to the public. So that decreases the revenue from the sponsorship side a bit, but Bernie’s complex model extracts commensurate revenue from this Grand Prix through a higher race fee.

The simple point is that Bernie is getting what he wants without much trouble (exactly the point which goes against India) and as he makes all the deals with the race organizers, wherever he says F1 should go, the circus goes.

Do the same points go against India? Some do, some don’t.

Weather

As the race is held in October, the weather is pleasant so that is a factor which goes in favour.

Race Fee

We see that wherever the government of the country supports the race, it prospers.

It is not rocket science that the government has a much higher funding capability than a private entity like the Jaypee Group. But you wouldn’t expect much from a government which labels the sport as “entertainment”, would you?

It is the same old situation with every possible perk for cricket players and absolutely nothing for other sportspersons.

The only silver lining is that many Indians are getting bored of cricket and taking to other sports, especially Formula 1, and hopefully, that might help in changing the minds of the leaders sitting in Delhi.

Buddh International circuit, NOIDA

Customs

This is the only, yes only, race where the teams have to pay customs duty for bringing the cars to the country. Surprised? Don’t be. India’s government considers the sport as “entertainment” and levies entertainment tax on it.

Sometimes it compels one to feel that F1 should go back completely to its motherland just to save the integrity of the sport and not make a mockery of itself.

Visa Issues

After a point, anger and disappointment give way to absolute hilariousness, and the same is the case here. Before the first edition of the race in 2011, drivers, team members and journalists found it extremely difficult to procure a visa.

The funniest case was when Mercedes‘s Nico Rosberg was denied one. The FIA media delegate summed up the situation aptly: “If the government takes three weeks to process a visa application, almost 90% of F1 people, me included, won’t attend the race.”

It is difficult to understand why the government is showing such an indifferent, maybe even negligent, attitude towards Formula 1. The race is bringing huge revenues to the country both through tourism and sponsorship. The capacity at the Buddh International Circuit is 100,000, so we can assume at least 20,000 foreigners, including journalists, are visiting the country as tourists and along with the race venue, the government is earning revenue through the heritage sites nearby.

Major organizations like Telmex, PDVSA, Santander, etc. are coming to India via sponsors’ logos on the cars and they have the chance to exploit a virgin market, which is excellent news for the government.

Other countries’ leaders have understood the benefits of hosting a Formula 1 race and it’s high time that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his cabinet do the same. If they don’t, then no one can blame Bernie.

As F1 fans, we would definitely want the race to stay but if scrapping the Indian GP plays a part in reverting the sport back to its traditional home, we shouldn’t be too disappointed.

Which one would you choose? Ayrton Senna at Donington Park or Sebastian Vettel at Buddh International Circuit? We all know the answer.