The celebrations at Team Red Bull’s home will go on well into the night at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) with Sebastian Vettel winning the second, 2012 edition of the Indian Grand Prix. Vettel had also won the inaugural race last year.
But, while the team and the huge support staff that makes sure that the champion driver wins the race were cheering one more win for the year under their arm, there was a difference in the celebrations in the stands.
The overwhelming emotion that ruled amongst the audience in the stands last year was nationalism, rather than a hardened, well-informed love of the sport. The hype surrounding the fact that we pulled-off the kind of complicated, expensive infrastructure that is needed to bring this sport to India and the blitzkrieg of pre-inaugural advertising made sure that there was more reasons to draw in the audience to the BIC than simply just experiencing a F1 race.
This year, going by the response as seen simplistically by the headcount in the stands, the emotion seems to have moved on to the sport finally. The grand stand was packed, but the rest of the stands around the circuit were barely so. And yet, it is definitely a positive that the sport can be centric to attracting fans, especially the ones that are attempting to follow and understand F1.
So, is it contradictory to say that the audience was lesser than last year and yet the competitive spirit of the sport has taken over the minds of Indian fans?
The popularity of F1 in India is apparently amongst the highest in terms of sheer numbers compared to most other countries where the F1 entourage goes to and races in. But it is F1s heroes that have been better known. Drivers like Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, our own Narain Karthikeyan and Sebastian Vettel have been stumped by their popularity in India, with fanatical followers tracking their career wins.
The sport’s fan base, obviously, has had a lot of new recruits in the last few years, many of whom had probably seen it only on the telly till last year. But, if the live setting of the Buddh circuit and the continuation of the Indian GP can boost the interest in the sport, then F1 can finally claim to have come home to India and taken roots.