Nikita Meshram
While Formula 1 fans across the world were glued to their screens to watch Max Verstappen bag the third world championship title at the Qatar Grand Prix, but for fans living in India, watching the F1 races this season was a struggle and went hard on viewer’s pockets. Previously, Star Sports and Disney+Hotstar owned the rights to broadcast the Formula 1 races in India. However, for the 2023 season, these motorsport races were not telecasted. F1 introduced its own OTT platform to broadcast the much-awaited races leaving the Indian motorsports fans in despair.
The orange crowd went crazy over the remarkable achievement of Verstappen this year. Motorsports enthusiasts took over the internet to celebrate the victory of the Dutch driver. The 26-year-old backs as the second youngest triple-world champion after Sebastian Vettel (now retired) achieved his triple title at 25.
Max has dominated the whole season by winning 13 of the 16 Grand Prix races. “This one is the best,” said the Dutch driver as he expressed how impressed he was with the consistency throughout the races. The Verstappen and Red Bull combination have already made their names in Motorsports history as the best driver/team partnership. The Red Bull driver achieved a new level of supremacy, which has not happened since seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher won for Ferrari in 2002. Verstappen is now amongst the title holders like Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Sebastian Vettel; the eleventh racer to have won three driver’s titles and one of the only five to win three in succession.
Indian fans have been waiting for Formula One comeback after the last race in 2013 when the legendary Sebastian Vettel won the Indian Grand Prix with Red Bull Racing. The Indian Grand Prix was part of the calendar for three consecutive years- 2011, 2012, and 2013. However, due to some tax disputes between the FIA and the Uttar Pradesh government, led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav the race never came back to India.
Uttar Pradesh state approached the Supreme Court in 2013 seeking its permission to withdraw the June 27, 2011 decision of the UP government granting exemption to Jaypee Group from entertainment tax for Formula One. Yadav’s government claimed that F1 is not a sporting event, but an entertainment event and has less impact on the development of sports in the country. Hence, the government sought that Jaypee Group to pay the entire amount of entertainment tax due for the 2011 F1 Indian Grand Prix.
While the opening event was a success, the following two editions saw significant downfall, bringing down the revenue as well. Jaypee Sports got involved in tax issues, made it difficult for them to pay the annual license fee to Formula One organisers. In the end, the Buddh International Circuit had to be closed down, with Formula 1’s return to India looking like a dream.
As the fans desperately wait for Formula One to return, the year 2023 saw two biggest motorsports events make their entry in India – Formula E with the Hyderabad ePrix which was held in February this year, and MotoGP Bharat which happened more recently at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. A decade later, Formula One’s fan following in India seems to be growing by the day in the age of growing technology. Documentaries, OTT shows, and social media have grown a fan-base in the country. The first ever MotoGP event’s success is a testament of the government’s unwavered support to such events.
While 2025 can still be very much approachable but post the fruitful execution of MotoGP, the fans can hope that they might see the cars racing each other in the circuit and maybe witness Lewis Hamilton bag the much awaited 8th championship and become the World-Champion.
(The author is from IIMC Jammu)
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