Walk Alone

Is it any good having a racing team in F1 called Force India? What is Indian about this team other than its owner and its colors? Formula racing is the ultimate symbiosis of engineering and passion - in which other sport does a human pilot half a ton of exquisite engineering to speeds in excess of 300 kmph? Where is the Indian talent in Force India’s engineering? Where is the Indian passion in its driving?

Is this all we can do? Are we so devoid of talent that we have to bank on a billionaire’s purchasing power?

We, Indians, are sure buying up a lot of ready-made pieces. Mittal buys up steel companies in Europe. Tata grabs Rover and Jaguar in Britain. Mallya grabs Midland F1.

And over a billion people pat themselves on their collective back.

As kid, I used to hear an anecdote.

America dug out a lump of iron ore and shipped it to Germany. Germany refined the ore into an ingot and flew it to Japan. Japan machine-tooled the ingot into a perfect square plate and sent it to India.

And India stamped “Made In India” on the plate.

Now that I think of it, I can guess why cricket feels good. Sure, our boys are unreliable. Maybe they are not the best that is out there. But, they are our boys - Indians. And when they win, India wins. When they win, more people than a billionaire and his stockholders win.

I was first attracted to Formula 1 in 1998, mostly because of the gripping commentary provided by Overdrive - one of the finest car and bike magazines at the time. Hakkinen won his first F1 driver’s championship that year. Ron Dennis was being considered the shrewdest team principal around. Adrian Newey was on the team. Nine years later, quite a lot has changed - but McLaren is still my favorite F1 team. Since that time, one quote has stayed in mind - not that I remember many quotes, but this one expressed McLaren’s ethos very elegantly. I have no idea who said it or which source quoted it.

We make winning a science.

However, the team’s performance next year and later on made that statement seem like a politician’s election speech. McLaren seemed to lose their grasp of the first principles of racing science. It was Ferrari and lately, Renault carrying the champions while Toyota and Williams provided some side-show excitement.

That is, until this year.

You got to see Lewis Hamilton’s record to believe it. This is one racer that is making winning a science. Four podium finishes in the first four races of his Formula 1 career! And he has eclipsed Bruce Mclaren’s record as the youngest championship leader ever! What is a more fitting way to pay tribute to the creator of your F1 team?

This is one guy I’m betting on. Science rarely goes wrong.