The Formula 1 Experience

Is Indian fanaticism for Formula 1 an accident of history? Probably yes and yet another natural ramification of the colonial rule. The influence of European culture and sports such as Cricket, Football (yes Soccer ofcourse) on India need not be explained in length.

Anyways, so I've been following Formula 1 for the past 4 years. We were excited on finding out that 2004's 3rd race was going to be at Bahrain. We couldn't make it. So we decided to goto the 9th race of this season at Indianapolis on June 20th.

Our day began at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday. It was a 3 hour drive from Chicago. The excitement was evident right from the moment we landed at Indianapolis. The whole city of Indianapolis was geared up for the action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was also a day for making quick bucks for the local residents. Signs that read "Parking available" were visible all over the town. We entered the stadium around 11:00 a.m. The weather was kind - as the 120,000 fans basked in the 78 deg sunshine. "Red" was the order of the day - 75% of the crowd was clad in Ferrari caps, flags, T-shirts. Ofcourse one could also see a few lone Williams and Mercedes supporters.

The test drive started at 11:20 a.m. and I heard the Ferraris roaring for the first time. Rubens Barichello (Ferrari) was at pole position followed by Michael Schumacher. As the cars started, it was a deafening noise. We were seated at the paddock. Paddock is where the race starts. The final action began at 12:00. It was a drama packed race right from the start. Montoya's car not starting, he rushing across the track to get into his back up car, only to be disqualified at the 57th Lap for making it 2 seconds too late in the formation lap was all a part of it. The most shockening one was Ralf's accident in the 10th Lap. It was a black day for Williams-BMW. Atleast 7 laps were led by the Safety car. Despite all the drama, watching Schumacher in action was a dream come true. He is in a league of his own - unbeaten this season but one race. For a while it seemed as though Sato and Button would bag the 2nd and 3rd positions. But Barichello caught up as always and he did push Schumi hard. If only he had overtaken Schumacher after his pit stop, he would have made it and Schumacher would have had to settle for 8 points.
Well, Schumacher went on to win the 2004 United States Grand Prix. He covered about 300 Kms (73 laps of 4.192 Km each) in 100 mins. He was followed by Rubens at the second place and Sato at the 3rd place. This time we saw Schumacher opening the champagne bottle and splashing on the other winners for real. Similar sights from earlier races on television was etched firmly in my head- this time it was for real only a few hundred yards away. The rest is history. I realise any amount of description wouldn't do justification to the experience. You've got to see it live, listen to the roaring sounds, be a part of the red fanatic crowd - in short its all about speed and you've got to experience the adrenaline rush!

Over 50 attempts to shoot pictures of the speeding cars went in vain. You see the cars approaching and before you blink they are gone. The only thing that crossed my mind then was what do these guys see ahead of them that they can drive at that speed. It really takes something to get into this sport!


Schumacher - Winner of the United States Grand Prix 

Schumacher starting after 2nd pit stop