‘I was there!’ will be my reaction to historic references of Sebastian Vettel winning his 4th consecutive Drivers’ Championship title at the 2013 Indian Grand Prix. ‘I was there!’ when Vettel decided to ignore Rocky’s radio message to follow standard operating procedures and return to the pits and instead chose to ignore the pit entry, downshift to let out an engine roar before churning out a series of donuts for Indian Formula1 fans who despite not regarding donuts as their staple diet (like their American counterparts) enjoyed every moment of it! Or like I told someone in the pitlane, Vettel’s attempting the medu-vada!
‘I was there!’ when Sahara Force India’s drivers were guest Sports Editors of a leading Indian daily and when Jehan Daruvala was the apple of everyone’s (Indian media) eye in the Sahara Force India team hospitality building addressing a joint media conference with Team Principal Vijay Mallya. ‘I was there!’ when a certain Niki Lauda (for the unknown, he is the ‘hero’ from the movie Rush) dropped in to congratulate him too! ‘I was there!’ when India’s only Formula1 team paid tribute to Sachin Tendulkar (#masterblaster), arguably one of the best cricketers in the world.
‘I was there!’ when Sahara Force India drivers registered a double points finish at their home Grand Prix and added 7 points to the difference between themselves and 7th placed Sauber. ‘I was there!’ and wondering (like everyone else!) what on earth was Gulshan Grover doing on the starting grid for this race too! (He has been there on the grid since inception!)
‘I was there!’ when Sebastian Vettel ran amok (isn’t that how the FIA saw it?) post-race before leaping to hug Horner-Newey, reminding Formula1 fans of the good ol’ days of Todt-Brawn-Schumacher. ‘I was there!’ when Indian Formula1 fans chanted ‘Vettel! Vettel!’ instead of boo-ing him like their evolved (in terms of the sport’s following) Western counterparts.
And ‘I was there!’ when Vettel-Rosberg-Grosjean hogged the limelight on the podium and sprayed champagne on a crowd that hoped that this wasn’t the last time they saw their favourite Formula1 drivers race in their homeland. Watch the podium video!
Rishi was there too! Seated in the Main Grandstand, enjoying the engine notes and making his notes for this week’s episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast. Infact, Rishi was there to interview Nico Rosberg for the Inside Line F1 Podcast and the interview will be played out next week (post-Abu Dhabi). And of course, Rishi was there to host an interaction organised by Puma and Mercedes AMG Petronas!
Here’s what’s in store in this week’s episode of our Formula1 Podcast: (YouTube channel: http://youtu.be/6qFviakqflQ)
- Lord Vitthal wins the 2013 Indian Grand Prix! (Read: ALL about the Indian Grand Prix)
- Ever wondered why cars are referred to as ‘she’?
- Donuts or medu-vadas? Prasadam for Indian fans! And whatta sight!
- AND we relive the ‘donut’ spinning RB9 which Vettel-ed India.
- Great start to the race for Massa. We reveal what he ate for breakfast (our little scoop!)
- (Raikkonen X Lotus)/100 = Raikkonen’s motivation (Read: Alonso, Ferrari, Raikkonen and 2014)
- Shouldn’t FOM monetize Raikkonen’s radio messages? (yet another money-making idea for Formula1)
- Rishi blushes at the mention of Rosberg and his fantastic drive to P2! Hear why!
- Double points for Sahara Force India, woohoo!
- Will the Indian Grand Prix be back in 2013? (Read: Ecclestone Checkmates The Indian Grand Prix) And this is where we share a few bloopers by our fellow Indians that made news during the GP weekend!
- Up next is Abu Dhabi; we reveal our best part of the race track. What’s yours?
- Which manufacturer-driver combination do you think would beat the Red Bull Racing-Vettel combination in Abu Dhabi?
A BIG thank you to all our listeners for tuning in week after week to the Inside Line F1 Podcast. And tune in next week for an opportunity to win prizes from Puma, partners to the Mercedes AMG Petronas team!
And for those still in the trance of the Indian Grand Prix, do hear ‘How To Save The Indian Grand Prix‘.
The Inside Line F1 Podcast is now available on various platforms and I would urge you to choose your platform to listen to the humour that we add to the otherwise serious and complex sport of Formula1.
If you are an Apple user, you can subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on the iTunes Podcast Store or via our RSS feed (for Android/Windows /Blackberry users).
The Inside Line Formula1 Podcast is produced and hosted by Rishi Kapoor and Kunal Shah. Follow us on Twitter and on our Soundcloud, MixCloud and YouTube channels.
2 comments On From Vettel To Lord Vitthal
Good one on the medu-vada…HaHa!
Mighty Vettel won!!!! And I was there to witness that freakin’ moment…my first ever GP!
What a circuit!! The elevation was panoramic, kempt…easily the best man-made ‘anything’ ever built in India….Proud Proud!!And a chic trophy….yippee!
The start…jeez….what a sound, what a feel…The last time I witnessed a roaring sound effect like that…..was when Jurassic Park came to theaters…HaHa!!!
And the most important point:
Yes, nobody booed!! Yay…….*RESPECT* to all the fans! Overall a great experience!
Now, the negatives of watching the race from the circuit:(I know, you are speechless :)!!)
I did not get a wholesome picture of what was going on with every team….only in bits and pieces. It was absolutely opposite to watching a cricket match in a stadium.
When a car pass by the area that my eye can peruse from the seat, I watch it live and then I try to follow the same car with the help of the projected display, suddenly 3 to 4 other cars pass by my eye’s purview…hence it is too confusing to decide what to see …is it the ‘display’ or the ‘live action’ or ‘both’….how to tie the story together? What to follow??
An example would be Webber’s DNF…during that very moment, the display was showing Webber’s car….the people sitting near me were looking at the passing cars & not the display…..after 20 seconds or so….when one of them pointed out the display by shouting out, the clueless fans let go off the live action to see the incident on the display….I mean it is chaotic. Am I the only one having this trouble when watching the race from the circuit???
I feel, it is too easy to watch from home on a TV telecast, broadcasting the stuffs(that is required) from every team, ultimately spoon-feeding the audience with the relevant info chronologically. A great salute to the Broadcast Editors – So far I had no freakin’ idea what their roles were!!
Doable idea to pull in crowd for future races(a long haul process….’coz nothing in this world that is worth having comes easy!):
Build “4D Theaters” across big cities in India, better yet……a JV with IMAX(3D should work too), which should broadcast live F1 action in real time…..this way people don’t miss out on the real action/sound/visual/effect…etc…
Having F1 season all throughout the year, more-or-less twice a month & weekends(only) guarantees the making of good moolah for the sponsor!!
This way you can market the sport better…by providing the live action with reasonable(fine, slightly higher) price…… even non-F1 fans would flock to watch anything in 4D/3D in India
(especially kids and in-turn Parents)…eventually understanding the Sport…..a win-win situation…..hook up with bookmyshow.com…..advertise/market smart….Soon they can extend the idea to other sports as well….Soccer(another not so famous sport in India)!! Give a trial run for a year or 2 and then rightfully expect a 90,000
crowd back at the circuit! Got to sow first, so as to reap.. you see!
Finally build a ‘Sportsplex’…like a ‘Multiplex’…..for the sports-maniacs of India and mint money!
Are people throwing rotten eggs, tomatoes & khati rolls at me for the crazy idea??? HeeHee….Not that I care!! 😛