I went with Aditya – his dad had “procured” tickets – to watch the 2013 India Grand Prix yesterday. His dad had good contacts with the organiser’s company, and our seats in the main grandstand right in front of the podium were possibly one of the best seats in the house. Aditya wasn’t particularly interested in attending in person even though he’s a Kimi Raikkonen fan, but was convinced by his dad to go along and see it in real life.
This was my third Formula 1 race; the first two I attended were the Singapore and Malaysian Grand Prix. So I was somewhat aware what the experience is like, except it felt different this time because I was sitting in the grandstand. On both occasions earlier I had been in free seating grass areas or had walkabout passes. Viewing it from comfortable seats, with the starting grid right at the front, felt more sanitised but I actually got to see much more of the race than merely cars whizzing past obscured by some tall guy’s head – my default view on previous occasions.
The impression that I got at the circuit was that most people who were in attendance had come with comped tickets. Perhaps the fact that Formula 1 as a sport doesn’t have much of a following in India, coupled with how far away the circuit is from Delhi – it took us approximately two hours to drive to Buddh International Circuit – makes it a tough sell. The overwhelming sentiment is “This is my first time here, and I only came for the experience…and I won’t pay to come here again.” Doesn’t sound like this race venue will survive for long, which is a shame because the race venue looks nice.