The 2012 Indian Formula One Grand Prix took place yesterday on the Buddh International Circuit and luckily enough I happened to get tickets to go and see the 'heart-racing' event firsthand. And it was amazing. Unbelievable. Magnificent. Legendary. One of a kind. I don't really know if I've given it enough justice by simply describing it with adjectives, so I've embedded the video I took of the starting of the race with my iPhone. (web version only #ThoseWithOutdatedPhones.)
To venture across the city to the Circuit, we risked travelling in the treacherous Metro. After fifty minutes agonizing minutes of avoiding strange and oddly long stares, enduring nasty elbows to the ribs and listening to mournfully old tinny songs in that lurching metal canister, we finally arrived. And the atmosphere was electric.
Instantly, the growl of revving engines in the distance mingled with the myriad waves of excited talk and ecstatic whoops to form an eclectic orchestra of sounds, at once overwhelming; at once inviting.
A hurried dash through a security, a frantic search for our block and finally we burst open through a narrow passage onto the Grandstand. Behold! The starting grid, resplendent in it's holy natural light lies in wait, the carefully marked positions eagerly pining for their cars. And at last, they arrive, flanked by red-clad pit girls, engines ablaze, roaring in proud and strident bellows. The cars inch menacingly into place on the track and wait, tethered only by a bright red light, now a little fainter, now yellow, and now suddenly green, and with a crescendo of war cries the army of cars leaps forward, sucked into a vortex of cacophony, speed and pure power.
The concrete stands are no match for this display of incomparable power, and shake with fear to their very foundations. The air is rent with the trailing wail of the heated engines and the crash of the sonic booms ricocheting off pillars and supports. Moving at average speeds of 280 kph, the cars are already halfway across the track once you realize that it was them making all the noise and not a wild, enthusiastic band of metal guitarists with a new found love for 'jamming it up'.
What struck me as most impressive, however, was the speed, precision and ultra efficiency of the pit crews during pit stops. In less than four seconds, each team effortlessly switched out four full tires, cleaned the front visors, cleared the exhaust pipes, raised and lowered the main chassis, prepped the front nose of the car, handed the driver a bar of chocolate (well, they could have if they wanted to) and, in the case of the impressive display team McLaren put up, changed the steering as well. Wow. Three to four seconds. That's the amount of time I would take to wave hi to somebody from the driver's seat!
Clearly, the F1 race was one experience I'm going to cherish for a very long time, and one which I can hopefully repeat again in the future. It's been inspirational in its own way as well, which would be evident if you saw me trying to take the wheel of the car on the way back, and it makes me think about how difficult the sport is; how much training the drivers need; how amazing it would be to drive one of those cars! As for trying to replicate team Red Bulls' 2.6 second pit stop for Jenson Button? Right. Time to smile and wave readers. Just smile and wave.
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