A history of the Indian Grand Prix
After more than a decade of on and off organising, promises made and broken, the inaugural Indian Grand Prix took place on October 30, 2011. The annual event is hosted 30 miles outside New Delhi in Greater Noida and is yet another step in F1's impressive global expansion in recent years.
The purpose-built 3.19 mile circuit has been penned by the ubiquitous designer Hermann Tilke and had a capacity of 150,000 for the opening race, rising to 200,000 in future years. Highlights include a recreation of Turkey's infamous turn eight that has been placed in front of a spectator area holding approximately 13,000 fans and wide corner entries earlier in the lap to allow overtaking. A massive four million cubic tons of earth was shifted around the site to create undulations, and the track elevation rises 14 metres between turn one and turn three alone.
If the level of effort and funding from the circuit's organisers can be matched by support on the ground, F1 could have a new and very lucrative market to exploit.
