In a nation that is dominated by cricket, it has become difficult for other sports to survive. However, when India became the host of one of the elite sports, the whole scenario changed. 2011 will be known as the year when Formula 1 made its debut in India. In October 2011, India hosted its first ever F1 event at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, in the vicinity of the national capital.
Initially, it was said that the developers, Jaypee Group, will not be able to complete the circuit on time. Hermann Tilke was appointed as the architect for the Indian circuit. Though the completion of the circuit was indeed delayed, F1 drivers were full of praises for the Buddh International Circuit, rating it as one of the best circuits in the world.
F1 drivers like Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Roseberg and Lewis Hamilton all were praising the 5.14 km long course. McLaren’s Jenson Button commented, “I really like this circuit. It's great fun to drive. There are some tough corners, but there's also a lot of high-speed stuff and it feels a lot faster than we initially thought it would".
Bernie Ecclestone, the Chief of F1, was also impressed with Buddh International Circuit and stated, “F1 is obviously new to this country. We'll probably never catch up to cricket but in 2-3 years time we hope to get very close to them." The stand was completely packed on the final day and it seemed that F1 would take less than a year to make its place in hearts of the Indian spectators.
The first ever Indian Grand Prix grabbed headlines all around the world for its top class management, something for which the nation is always criticised while organising major global events.
Indian fans, whether young or old, were present at the Buddh International Circuit to witness history being made as they watched their favourite F1 drivers that include crowds’ favourite, Narain Karthikeyan. Indian cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Virendra Sehwag were also present at the event. Apart from cricketers, British comedian Rowan Atkinson and Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Shahrukh Khan also graced the first F1 event of the nation.
Sebastian Vettel, the Red Bull driver, made history by winning the inaugural Indian Grand Prix on 30th October 2011. He defeated the likes of Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton to be crowned the champion of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.
On his victory, the Red Bull driver, stated, "What the people did here in the short amount of time to put up this arena is incredible. All in all it was fantastic and I'm very proud to be the first winner here. We are still hungry, we are not lacking motivation. I love what I do and we don't want this (season) to end."
Unlike the Commonwealth Games that made headlines for all the wrong reasons, the Indian Grand Prix has taken the nation to the world map. Hosting world class events like F1 will definitely help the nation extract the potential for other sports, which is quite diminished because of domination of cricket.
