Mallya ‘s F1 dream:
If you are person who worries “even though India gets an F1 circuit in 2009, what’s the use if there is no Indian driver in the circuit”. This buzz will excite you like anything. Indian liquor baron Vijay Mallya of UB group has reportedly bidding for the Spyker Formula 1 team. The deal is reputed to be in the region of 80 million euros. Mallya and Mol said in a statement: “(The) offer has been accepted by the Board of Spyker Cars N.V. and exclusivity has been granted to the consortium Orange India Holdings Sarl to proceed with due diligence … to achieve completion within 30 days.”
Spyker is the same team which ejected the indian driver Narain Karthikeyan(India’s only F1 driver) for failing to meet their USD11.7 million demand. The Jordan team was taken over and renamed Midland for the 2006 season and it was renamed as spyker for 2007 season. ( Dutch sports car maker Spyker bought the team from Midland in September 2006). Near the end of 2005, Karthikeyan announced he would not be driving for Midland the following year to secure his seat on the team.
Returning to the story, if the bid actually suceeds, one can expect prominent Kingfisher Airlines branding on the F1 car, and Indian drivers Narain karthikeyan & Karun Chandhok – currently participating in the GP2 series in the F1 circuit soon. However, Mallya will continue to sponsor Panasonic Toyota team – formula one’s second most costliest team on the circuit. The teams that Mallya eyed were Honda, Super Aguri, Spyker -Ferrari and Torro Rosso but finally settled with spyker. Earlier this month, Michiel Mol stepped down as CEO from Spyker’s road car division, and Hans Hugenholtz was appointed in his place, reportedly because Mol was interested in purchasing a share of the Spyker F1 team, leading to a conflict of interest. UB group chairman Vijay Mallya joined hands with the Michiel and Jan Mol consortium in a jointly (US) $110m bid. It is not known what the new name for the Silverstone based team, also called Jordan and Midland in recent years, will be, but the joint consortium is called ‘Orange India’.
As India will host its first formula one in 2009 (which will be official when IOA (Indian Olympic Association) will sign an agreement with formula one) Delhi may be the host for the Indian F1. Vijay Mallaya has been working for the deal for past many years. India was visited by hi- profile F1 players like Schumi and his brother Ralf Schumacher.
About spyker:
Dutch manufacturer of hand-built vehicles, Spyker Cars NV, owns the Spyker Formula One team, which it inherited from Midland for $107m in 2006. The team has since plunged into a financial crisis. Spyker posted a net loss of 29.9 million euros in the first half of the year, up from a loss of 1.1 million euros in the year-ago period. It has said it expects to make a loss this year. The Formula One team had a 13 million euro loss. The team’s journey started in September 2006 at the Italian Grand Prix when Spyker Cars NV acquired Midland F1 Racing, formerly Jordan Grand Prix, from the Midland Group. At the following Grand Prix in China, the team’s new livery, a combination of the Dutch national colour orange and black, was launched on track for the first time. In an exciting new development, the team signed a major new title partnership deal in March’07 that saw it rebranded the Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team. Spyker had entered this year’s championship under its own name, with drivers Adrian Sutil and Christijan Albers. In July Albers was dropped after one of his personal sponsors apparently did not keep up payments. Team test driver Markus Winkelhock stood in for the European grand prix, ace driver Sakon Yamamoto was subsequently hired for the rest of the season.
India and the Formula one:
India has long been on the Formula one’s radar, with Hyderabad considered as a potential race venue but as the Chandrababu Naidu chief backer of the project was voted out in the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections India’s Formula one dream remains the dream till 2007. India’s history with formula one has been great, India’s first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan made his debut in 2005 with Jordan (now midland), he is now the test driver for william. In 2004, TCS provide IT and engineering services for the development of the Ferrari‘s Formula 1 racing car. But as India clocks more than 9% GDP I believe things will change in future. India could host a grand prix in Delhi as early as 2009, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on January this year. “The government of Delhi I think really wants Formula One in India and I am optimistic that maybe we will be able to host our first race in 2009? Mallya said.