Why Formula One needs India and India needs Formula One

BIC

The October of 2011, right after the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, a visibly excited Steve Slater wondered aloud if it’s the ‘best F1 race’ on the calendar. The statement which put a smile on the face of many Indians and a twitch on as many European’s, was undoubtedly founded in the momentary exhilaration that follows any gripping sporting event. His more grounded partner in the commentary box, Gary Anderson brought back some perspective saying its still early times and that it’s a title that many races around the world contend for. He did concede however that it was certainly one of the best. Over 90,000 Indians had attended that race.

Two years on, the attendance has dropped by a third, the 2013 race barely went through, fighting off in the last minute, a legal case that could have potentially cancelled the race, and Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One supremo, has confirmed there will not be a 2014 Indian Grand Prix. The official reason is scheduling problems, but few are willing to believe it’s that simple. The race which has brought certainty to Sebastian Vettel’s championship ambitions itself faces dire uncertainty.

Bernie Ecclestone isn’t a man who always enjoys great popularity amongst the sport’s fans. He’s axed races with a lot of emotional significance, is accused of taking F1 away from its roots and is brutal as a business man. Lack of emotion and a dedication to profit are in many ways incompatible with the idea of sport. His concerns about India are however well founded. Teams have complained regularly about the difficulty of getting their components into the country, of the high duty charges, of the complicated visa procedures and these are legitimate problems. A sport as big as Formula 1, cannot survive without some support from government.

Having said that, it is far from ideal for the sport to pull out of the country right now. Formula One is a sport whose future is largely tied with the economic capabilities of its sponsors and audience. India in this aspect screams potential. By 2025, it is estimated that the population of India will have risen to 1.4 billion from the current 1.2 billion, but much more significantly, 45% will be middle class or better; a rise from the current 18%. We are looking at 600 million potential active consumers. A number that’s just short of the entire population of current Europe. These are statistics that can truly sustain the long-term development of the sport.

Formula One today is as much about engineering as it is about racing. Chief Designers are as sought after as the drivers and races are being increasingly won in the factory. Make no mistake, a great car without a great driver is about as useless as a great driver stuck in a bad drive, but the role that design and engineering plays in determining the results is significantly more than what it was a few years ago. The Red Bull story is a clear evidence of the fact. And this plays very well for the Indian scenario too, where every kid aspires to be some kind of an engineer. India has produced some of the best engineering talent in the world and boasts of some of the very best engineering institutions, thanks to a society that places a tremendous value on quality education. If the sport can exploit the abundance of quality workforce in the country, we could watch the cars evolve like never before only making the sport more exciting.

The sport has more to lose than just markets and the technical benefits. In naming the team Force India and coloring it in saffron, white and green, Vijay Mallya tapped into the Indian passion and appealed to the national identity of the Indian youth. It has brought a significantly large fan base to the sport and as they continue to improve with each season it is only bound to get bigger. The masterstroke of course would be to have an Indian driver in the team and perhaps even move base to India to make it a truly Indian team. There has been progress in this direction. The Force India academy driver Jehan Daruvala, all of 15 years, won the British Karting championship, a title previously held by the likes of Jenson Button and Nigel Mansell, this year and it can only get better from here for the youngster. In ignoring India, the sport stands to lose millions of fans and perhaps a whole new chapter in the history of this wonderful sport.

It is important however for F1 to stay in India from early on if it has any hopes of capturing the imagination of the Indian youth and cash in on the benefits. We are increasingly looking at the cricket crazy nation explore different sports as they become economically viable for larger sections of the society. And sports like football and basketball have already made some inroads. History has taught us that a nation, however big, can only be passionate about so many sports (evidence lies in the difficulties the sport has in capturing the American market, already dominated by the Indy Car series) and Formula One can certainly do with some of India’s attention. In bringing its premier event to the country Formula One is at an advantage and it needs to seriously consider the implications before pulling out and squandering it away.

India itself stands to lose significantly with the sport moving away too.

Sahara Force India driver Adrian Sutil and Scuderia Ferarri driver Felipe Massa in action

The very first Grand Prix in India was held against the back drop of the corruption scandals and cases of unprofessionalism that plagued the Common Wealth games. When we organized an amazingly successful Grand Prix only weeks after, it restored credibility in the nation’s ability to host big events. The challenges of organizing an F1 race are recognized around the world and every successful race will only improve our image and help our economy as a number of Indian companies try and make inroads into the infrastructure market in Africa and elsewhere. There are also of course the direct economic perks involved in organizing the race itself as it becomes more popular and larger number of sponsorships and ‘willing to spend’ fans come in.

It’s no secret that the tourism in the country has taken a hit with all the overly (and rightly so) publicized cases of sexual abuse and sporadic events of terrorist attacks. By being present in a sport that’s popular across Europe, Australia, much of South America and some of Asia and North America, it gives a tremendous opportunity to showcase the good side of the country. India is too big and too diverse a country to be stereotyped by individual events and a brilliantly organized F1 race is a perfect way to counter that. Then of course there is also the technological benefit of the sport. We have increasingly seen breakthroughs in Formula One trickle down to the automobile industry all the way from the use of carbon fiber to the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) in everyday cars. A strong F1 base in the country could work wonders for its automobile industry.

The gravest danger in this situation is indifference. Indifference of the sport towards the country or of the country towards the sport. Admittedly the latter has been the bigger of the two problems so far. And this is unsurprising considering the disconnect that exists between the nation’s population and its lawmakers. In a nations where the average age of the population is 25 and that of its lawmakers 65 (just about the life expectancy of the country), you have to wonder if the decision makers can at all feel the pulse of a young nation. The sports ministry refused to recognize Formula One as a sport and classified it as entertainment thereby effectively questioning the intelligence of millions of the sport’s fans around the world and of its own youth who have taken to the sport.

It further added that Formula One did not satisfy conditions which focus on human endeavor for excelling in competition, a statement which at once displayed the ministry’s blatant ignorance of the sport and insulted the legacy of all the past and current drivers. It’s a sport in which drivers have literally put their lives on the line in pursuit of excellence. As now made popular by the brilliant feature film Rush, there was a time in the sport where at least a driver, sometimes two, would be killed on the racing track every year. If anything the sport has to be blamed for its relentlessness in pursuing excellence, not for the lack of it.

When Shashi Tharoor, supposedly amongst India’s more forward looking politicians tweeted that he was ‘not enthused about cars going round in circles’, it was saddening. Not because he felt that way about the sport, but to see how little understanding there is of the sport amongst our policy makers. How is 22 cars going around in circles any different from 22 men chasing a ball? The core of every sport IS simplicity, but what makes it enjoyable is the awareness of the nuances of the sport, something that’s still clearly missing in the decision making sections of our society. With time this could change, but the key is to give it time.

Vijay Mallya, Vicky Chandhok and the Jaypee group have worked extremely hard to bring F1 to India, Force India has done admirable work in building a significant fan base and Karun Chandhok has spent endless hours in selling the Indian story around the world (he did over 50 one-one interviews in the week leading up to the inaugural Indian GP). It would be such a shame to watch this entire work amount to nothing. The people who stand to lose out the most in this situation are the youth. And like most times in life, they don’t have a say. We can only hope that the government recognizes its responsibility towards its young and ambitious population and the sport itself takes a patient approach in the country both for its own interests and for that of the nation. Here’s hoping for a long and exiting future for Formula One in India.