If ever Formula 1 can boast of saying that we have Virender Sehwag in the drivers line-up it has to be Juan Pablo Montoya. Born in 1975, aged 36, the Colombian made his debut in Formula 1 as a race driver in 2001 for Williams F1 Team. Tough he now competes in NASCAR, his Formula 1 career is no less glorious than Viru’s career in cricket. If I am not mistaken then all (well almost) the HARD-CORED F1 fans round the world specially in India will definitely agree with me that Montoya at his peak was the most talented, fear-less, complete entertainer during any Grand Prix.

It’s hard to keep Montoya out of the camera during the race, even if other more privileged drivers were leading the races, Montoya had more TRP rating than any other. You just cant keep the camera away from Montoya for more than 5 minutes. Literally, for any driver, including Michael Schumacher, having Montoya in his mirrors is and always a NIGHTMARE.

“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen because I never lifted a car with a jack. I thought, ‘Oh, it’s kind of heavy.’ So I went harder, and I thought I was going to land up on my as*. I didn’t, so I’m pretty glad about that!” Juan Pablo Montoya quotes. Ain’t he like our own VIRU??

Many articles have been written on him, in one of them I would stress and mention these particular lines -

“Known for his livewire driving style and rough handling of his car, Montoya would have imaginably done well in the turbocharged 80s. In an era where man and machine were both rugged and brutal, this Colombian would perhaps have been better off had he been born two decades prior to his time. But destiny had it otherwise, bringing him into an age of F1 marked by precision and accuracy, where there was no room for a ruthless driver. But he defied that theory by making a place for himself, all the same!”

The real MASTER of OVERTAKING, Montoya can boast of being the best than the rest at any given time.

“His incredible skills at overtaking – to which he brings an improvisation, bravery, deftness and flair that has arguably never been seen before – are inseparable from his mercurial character. It is easy to forget that until Montoya’s arrival in the sport in 2001, overtaking in modern F1 was considered so difficult as to be almost impossible. That is still the case, but Montoya has been able to transcend the limits imposed on drivers by complex aerodynamics and shorter braking distances and pull off passing moves that can only be described as breathtaking… The fact that no-one else has been able to emulate him merely underlines his astonishing ability – he will probably be remembered as the best overtaker in F1′s history.” – Andrew Benson, Motorsports Editor, BBC on Montoya.

His Debut season - Less than a month after his debut, in the Brazilian Grand Prix, he had his best qualifying, a fourth place finish. He got up to second on the first lap and there was a safety car due to an incident in the first corner. On the restart, which was on the third lap, Montoya shocked the F1 world by passing World Champion Michael Schumacher into the first corner. He held off Schumacher, who was on a two-stop strategy compared to Montoya’s one stop strategy until Schumacher’s first stop.

Story similar to Sehwag - Can it be co-incidence? Sehwag’s career is less appraised and overshadowed by none other than Sachin Tendulkar himself. On the other, Montoya faced similar fate in the hands of another extra-ordinary maestro – Michael Schumacher. The deadliest combination of FERRARI + SCHUMACHER = TITLE from 2000 – 2004 left very little for others, specially Montoya. The car plays a vital role, and unfortunately for Montoya and also for others, Ferrari was unmatched and untouched. Still Montoya showed exceptional skills and breath-taking maneuvers, Montoya shall always remain “UNTOUCHED”.

- Vivek Manjarekar

The first ever Formula 1 race in the Buddh International Circuit is done and it spelled nothing short of success for the country. Besides the dog holding up play in Friday practice, it went pretty smooth with the organizers doing a fabulous job in getting the race underway. It was a regular day at work for Sebastian Vettel who led every lap of the race and bagged the fastest lap, pole position and the race victory. Jensen Button got a good start of the line and finished second. Ferrari’s campaign was led by Alonso as usual who passed Webber for third place in the pits. The entertainment was again provided by Hamilton and Massa, who rubbed paint for the 6th time this year.

The first Indian Formula 1 Grand Prix has been a huge success and will pave the way for motorsports in the country. More than 90000 people turned up to watch the race at the Buddh International Circuit, which has been built to world class standards. However what is really disappointing to know, is the lack of awareness about the sports. One TV Channel (the name of which we don’t want to mention for obvious reasons), was carrying a story last night, talking about the dangers of Formula 1 racing. Being an enthusiast, if you would have seen the utter nonsense they said, you would have actually thought of calling the channel and telling them to shut up. Accidents in Formula 1 (dating back to 1950s) were being shown to depict the high risk of the sport and lines such as “safaid gaadi ne lal gaadi ko takkar maari” (the Hamilton-Massa collision) were being said. When will the television media stop taking us for a ride and show something more intellectual?

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team today held a press conference in Delhi where they announced the winners of the ‘Vodafone Race to Fame’ and ‘Vodafone Drive into the Big League’ contests. Both drivers from the popular F1 team, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were present for the event. The 4 winners of the contest ‘Vodafone Race to Fame’, would get the opportunity to spend the coming weekend with the McLaren Mercedes Team and would be provided with access to the Paddock Club, Pit Lane, team garage and will also participate in pit crew practice along with the two racing stars.

“It feels great to be back in India and I would like to thank Vodafone, for their continued support to the team. I am simply overwhelmed by the incredible excitement and the knowledge towards motorsports shown by the people of this country. India’s a sports-mad nation — mostly, it’s about cricket, which is understandable because they’re a very successful cricketing country, but I really think the people of India are going to take Formula One to their hearts. All of us in the team are looking forward to this experience and I am confident of a fantastic race on October 30,” Lewis Hamilton, said.

The winner of the ‘Vodafone Drive into the Big League’ contest, ‘ABC Consultants’ will receive a chance to advertise their logo on the F1 cars of the McLaren Mercedes team during the race. Mr.Shiv Agrarwal – CEO, ABC Consultants was presented with the honours by Mr.Marten Pieters – MD and CEO, Vodafone India. Besides the announcements, both the former champions had a candid and entertaining chat with the media members and the fans. They also answered questions varying from the start of their careers, to their favourite drivers, tracks and their experience in India.

- Ankit Sethi
Special Correspondent

The 2011 Airtel Formula 1 Indian GP is around the corner and people are way excited with it. It is going to be held from 28th to 30th of October, 2011 at the Buddh International Circuit located in Greater Noida. The teams have already reached the venue and preparations must be in full swing for the race weekend. The Formula 1 event starts with practice sessions for all the competing teams which is due to take place on the Friday. This will be followed by the Qualifying Round on Saturday to decide the grid positions. The final race will take place on Sunday, 30th of October.

It has been official that to flag off the event none other than the master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar has been roped in. Sachin himself is an ardent motorsport fan and even has a dream of owning a motorsports track one day. For the records, he once owned a go-kart track in Mumbai. Apart from this, he also loves super cars and was one of the first persons to own a Ferrari in India. Recently he sold it off to buy himself the new Nissan GT-R. Apart from Sachin, Bollywood celebrities like Shahrukh Khan will also be present at the event.

The dream of an Indian GP has finally arrived. Come 28th of October, the country will be witnessing the first F1 race in its own soil. The race will be held from 28th to 30th of October at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. It is yet to be seen how the response turns out as motorsports has always been an expensive sport and medium of entertainment. There has some speculations as to how much can it be in the reach of the Indian common man. Even as these rumors continue to float, talks have surfaced about building a second F1 track in India. Discussions have been on about Mumbai becoming the second F1 destination of India. For this, a consortium has also been appointed who will be looking into the matter. The designer who has been roped has previous projects like the 2012 London Olympics stadium under his belt.

“Capita Symonds, Populous and DIMTS (Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System Ltd) will prepare the masterplan and business case for a new multipurpose race circuit and regeneration project”. Capita Symonds’ Jerry Muscroft said, “We are committed to delivering the next generation of racing circuits, with great racing, overtaking, world-class facilities and architecture; but above all the intention is to create a sustainable venue that will not need continuous financial support, and will facilitate investment and regeneration,” a statement issued by the consortium said.

There is some good news for all the diehard F1 fans in India who by some reason couldn’t lay their hands on an F1 ticket this time. Ticket prices for some selected stands have been slashed a considerable amount. The main grandstand tickets are up for grabs at Rs 15,000, classic stand tickets now cost Rs 4,000 and picnic stand passes are available for Rs 3,000. However, there is slight catch in this. You will only be able to watch the F1 race only on the final race day and not the practice or the qualifying ones. The final race will take place on the 30th of October.

With just a week before a Formula 1 car turns a wheel in anger at the Buddh circuit, JPSI MD Sameer Gaur confirmed that almost 60% of the tickets have been sold. The new revised packages will definitely pull more F1 lovers to the circuit from their homes. The tickets for booking are available at Bookmyshow.

The very first Formula 1 race in India is just a few days away and the excitement is totally amazing. Enthusiasts have already booked their tickets, even though the drivers and constructors championship has been sealed. Furthermore, the race will see the Jaypee Group see a huge loss on their balance sheet but that does not deter them from bringing Formula 1 to India. The track is quite fast with average speeds of 210 kmph and top speed of 320 kmph. This makes BIC race track the second fastest in the F1 calender, the first being Monza. The gradient of 14 meters further adds up to the excitement we can expect from the race, which is set to take place next week. The main grandstand is the place to be, which is the largest in the world and is the best place to witness the massive acceleration of a Formula 1 car.

Now, an event at the international scale is not easy to organize and there have been many hiccups on this journey for the promoters. First was the custom duty issue and now farmers, whose lands were acquired are looking to protest for more compensation. However Jaypee Group is least worried with good amount of security being used for the race weekend. A brand new 6-lane expressway has been constructed as well, which will make it very easy for the guests to reach the circuit. Hermann Tilke has designed the track and has made it as challenging as possible. We hope this track has alot of overtaking action, opening the doors to other motorsport events in India. Will you be visiting?

Buddh International Circuit Race Details

Circuit length – 5.137 kms
Direction – Clockwise
Number of turns – 16
Number of laps – 60 Race distance (approx 308 kms)
Race marshals (Indian) – 230
Race marshals (from abroad) – 100

The maiden India Grand Prix is just 11 days away and the enthusiasm is starting to become electric already. Red Bull Racing has conducted two activities already to showcase its F1 car to the masses, while Buddh International Circuit has been inaugurated with Neel Jani taking the wheel of his Formula 1 Red Bull car, hitting a speed of 320 kmph on the longest stretch. Now no company wants to miss this opportunity to promote itself and are keen to make the most of the upcoming Formula 1 race. Thus Ferrari and Force India have parked their Formula 1 cars at the Delhi International Airport, catching alot of eye candy. Visitors are gawking at the cars with most of them wanting to get a snap with the Ferrari F150th Italia.

Thanks for sending us the pictures Nidhi Raikundlia.

Driving a Formula 1 car is not easy at all and the Singapore race, although a favourite of F1 drivers is not easy on them. The humidity is very high and drivers sweat even before wearing their racing suit. But the real fun lies in the parties which start early on in the day, even before the race starts. The awesome track and the night race creates an awesome atmosphere worth witnessing, making the Singapore grand prix a must visit for all Formula 1 fans.

Disclaimer – This is a sponsored post.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo drove his Formula One car down Rajpath, where 60,000 fans cheered him. Red Bull claims the car clocked speeds of over 300kph. The event was organized in association with CII. Known as the Speed Street, the event was outstanding and a never before like experience to get up, close and personal with the Red Bull F1 car. The car was also driven on the Janpath Road. The car also did some awesome doughnuts to thrill the huge number of spectators who had turned up to witness the event. Along with the car, also Freestyle Bike stunt team, Ghost Riderz blazed the track with their mind blowing performances and Renault Koleos vehicles performed some amazing drifting actions. Recently Renault had announced the allocation of Rs. 6.5 crore related to F1 promotional activities and since the Red Bull cars are powered by Renault engines, the French automaker had bought the Fluence and Koleos for display. The whole adrenaline was also complemented with performances by Bhangra troup and the famous Indian music band “Indian Ocean”. People like Rannvijay of Roadies fame and the famous movie producer Nagesh Kukunoor also attended the event and cheered the crowd.

“It was a proud moment for me to be the first Formula 1 driver to race down the iconic Rajpath. Today’s drive was truly exhilarating especially with the legions of cheering fans who lined up the road. I’ve never seen anything like this before but I’m sure that Red Bull has set millions of pulses racing as India waits for the lights to turn green at the Grand Prix later this month,” Daniel Riccardio said.

- Joy Chatterjee
Special Correspondent