We are seeing a shift from a kind of polite interest to an actual bid to get F1 back in the country. The target is a 2028 event and a set of rules by next year. With 98 million F1 fans in India now, the Sports Ministry has charted out a way to make a case for a spot on the calendar.
There is as much politics as there is money in this. Sports Minister Manuskh Mandaviya has made it clear that a Task Force will be up and running in short order to size up the ecosystem, do the numbers, and put forward what is needed to put on a top-tier motorsport show in a way that can be sustained.
It is not just about a weekend of racing. The minister says the panel will be looking at the upside from a tourism, investment and economic point of view. It will be done in phases with the full weight of the government behind it as part of the Play in India push.
Why 2028 is the new benchmark
You may remember F1 was here from 2011 to 2013, before some tax and financial hiccups put an end to it. By not chasing an earlier date and setting 2028 as the mark, India is trying to establish some credibility before it even starts talking to the sport.
The government has its work cut out for it to have the supporting framework in place by next year. You will see an emphasis on the regional and grassroots level, in a way to build up the ranks under a marquee like F1.
A look at the Task Force
Mandaviya envisions a group of four or five people, with representation from the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, the Sports Ministry, Uttar Pradesh and the people who own the facilities. That puts the state right in the middle of the plan, given the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.
This comes after a sit-down with F1, the owners of the Buddh circuit, the Adani Group, FMSCI and some of the younger racers. The panel’s job is to figure out where the infrastructure and operations need to be and then put their cards on the table with the Sports Ministry.
No one has put a date on when they start, but once they do, the Task Force has three months to come back with a report. The idea is to get from talk to a policy document in no time.
So far, the plan is as follows:
– Get the Task Force in place
– Three months to file the report once they are up and running
– Have the policy side of things ready by next year
– Put on an F1 in India by 2028
How it stacks up against the rest
You can’t just be interested if you want a piece of the F1 calendar. CEO Stefano Domenicali has said there is a lot of it in India, but he won’t be drawn on a timeline; it will come down to having the right people and capital.
Delhi is saying it is on to that. With the government and industry in the same room, India is trying to take some of the risk off the table for F1 and the promoters, while showing they can handle the logistics and the long haul.
The numbers don’t lie
F1 had 79 million fans in India last December. Now, in under six months, we are at 98 million. That makes a return more palatable for the sport. For us, it is proof that a bit of policy can open up the whole motorsport market.
Motorsports is to be folded into Play in India. The thinking is to have a space where the big event is there, but so are the feeder series, the training and the kind of tourism you get in a race week.
For the circuits and the region
Buddh is still the obvious choice and the Task Force is built around that. With U.P. in the mix, any talk of upgrades or how to run the commercial side of things will be done with the state and the owners in the loop.
Sustainability is a word you will hear a lot. The panel is going to be over the fine print of what is required, in a move to do things by the book and to a standard that holds up internationally, rather than with a band-aid solution.
What to keep an eye on
For now, it is about the Task Force being officially put in place. Then the three-month clock is on, and what they find will be the basis for the framework we are due to see next year.
After that, it is up to India to turn the intent, the money and the fan support into a pitch that F1 can say yes to. The objective is to have a race on in 2028 and make motorsport a fixture in the national sports scene.
