The Airtel Grand Prix of India will be a Formula One race held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. The first event is scheduled to take place on October 30, 2011 as the 17th race of the 2011 Formula One season, The new race track was officially homologated on September 1, 2011 by Charlie Whiting, and the inaugural race is now confirmed to have its debut in 2011.
The circuit will be roughly 5.14 kilometres (3.19 miles) and will be designed by F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke. The track will be spread in an area of 875 acres. The initial seating capacity is speculated to be around 150,000. However there are plans to increase the seating capacity to 200,000 later on. The sprawling circuit will be a part of Jaypee Green Sports city and will also be used for hosting one or more rounds of Moto GP championships in the year 2012. The 10-year contract for the race has been given to the Indian construction company Jaiprakash Associates.
The track in all has 16 largely medium speed corners where F1 cars will lap at an average speed of 210 km/h. The back straight will let F1 cars reach 320 km/h making it one of the fastest tracks in the world. The expected F1 car lap time is 1 minute 27 seconds. The organizers have also taken feedback from teams which have done the track analysis via simulators leading to modification of the turn 7 in order to maximize overtaking opportunities into banked turn 10. A grand stand with a capacity of 13,000 will overlook the turn 10 and turn 11 giving the F1 fans an opportunity to be a part of the action.
Delhi has been seeing a lot of infrastructure developments for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. However, there has been no direct funding provided for an Indian Grand Prix yet.
According to experts, the benefits of a booming economy like India joining the F1 calendar are clear. Not only would the hotel and tourism industry get an immediate boost, the country’s profile, too, would get a lift.
Experts are also of the view that once the Indian Grand Prix kicks off, it has the potential to generate around $170 million in revenue and employ as many as 10,000 people. The opportunity in advertising tie-ups between manufacturers and F1 cannot be overlooked either.The race was to coincide with the important Diwali holiday, when consumer spending is typically at its highest and many are travelling, so economic prospects are excellent.