On the worn flagstones that surround the Gateway to India – a vast Imperial monument to commemorate George V’s visit in 1911 – the carpenters of Bombay were building the stage yesterday for Formula One’s new adventure.
Just a stone’s throw from the majestic Taj Mahal hotel on the seafront where Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil, the Force India drivers, are staying in palatial splendour, the men were knocking in the nails on old scaffolding planks ready for Vijay Mallya’s latest spectacular.
The flamboyant Indian beer-to-air-lines tycoon, who has bought the old Spyker team, is not wasting any opportunity to promote his new venture in his homeland and after a big party to announce his driver lineup last month, he will present the car – codenamed VJM-01 – in front of the Gateway today.
The Force India project has an exciting if unreal feel to it, as Formula One takes its place in the world’s biggest democracy, where extreme poverty is still fighting for eyespace with the brave new commercial reality of one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
No different you may think from Brazil, for example, except that there is almost no tradition of motor sport in India, hardly any racing of any kind even today and few drivers who have made it beyond local formulas. So Force India is all about potential and the cricket-obsessed 400-million strong, television-owning middle class whom Mallya hopes to turn into Formula One aficionados.
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To get things going, the Kingfisher Airlines owner has doubled the team’s budget, hired Fisichella to give them a bit of experience on the track and started a big promotional television and advertising campaign across India selling, but hopefully not overselling, a team who will remain a backmarker for at least another season.
Fisichella, the likeable Roman, is an old man of the sport at 35 who has been given a lifeline by Mallya in the form of a new two-year contract in the twilight of a career that has never delivered and appeared to be spluttering to a conclusion when Renault dropped him at the end of last season.
The Italian looked tired after a flight from Europe and a touch shell-shocked to be in India. Motor racing has taken him all over the planet but never here.
As his private collection of flies buzzed around his head, Fisichella talked up his new spiritual home. “The first time for me in India was a big shock because there is a lot of traffic and there is lot of mess around here, but there are a few very interesting places, like this area, which is very, very nice,” he said.
The three-time grand prix winner believes that Mallya is in the sport for the long term and has a realistic understanding of how hard it will be for his team to move up the grid. “The investment he has done is really important, even for a rich man like him,” he said. “He’s got a lot of passion and he wants to see that team growing up and doing well for himself, for his country.”
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Any kind of a result in a race this season could make the Italian a super-star in India, but there is a long way to go and he knows that it will take time to build an understanding of the sport in a country where many still do not drive. “At the moment not yet, not yet,” Fisichella said, “but soon they will learn a bit more about F1. After the launch of the drivers in January there was a big impact. I think especially after the unveiling of the car, there’s going to be a much bigger impact.”