Jackie Stewart advises better grass-root structure for India as investors roll in – Formula 1 news
Former world champion Jackie Stewart says that India needs to invest in karting tracks if they want to grow in Formula 1.
The inaugural Indian Grand Prix has been hailed as a success by both media and the people involved. Now the attention has been directed towards setting up a base for Indian drivers to come into the fold as well.
Narain Karthikeyan the first Indian driver was the only Indian driver at the first-ever Indian Grand Prix. It would not even have been one Indian driver in racing on Sunday had it not been an interest of sponsors to financially back the Indian driver.
“Look at the current Indian drivers,” Stewart said. “Narain is old now and after him and the other lad Karun [Chandhok] there is not much of depth in the talent pool. No one is knocking at the doors of F1. For a country to produce more quality drivers it
should have a huge talent base from which the best come out to fight abroad.”
“For that to happen, India should have more karting tracks, not big F1 circuits, so that more kids come into racing and then you will see an increase in the number of quality drivers coming out of here,” he added.
Mercedes boss Norbert Haug also suggested that the FIA should look to develop a go-karting track in India, and promising prospects can be sent to Europe to further hone and fine-tune their skills.
However, Karthikeyan and Chandhok have shown optimism after they realised the potential India has to be Formula 1 hub. They echoed the same notion, that now that the Grand Prix has proven to be a success in India, it is likely for the investors to be part
of the sport more than before, which in result will bring in more financial support to the setup of the sport in India.
More Indians will be interested and it is not farfetched to see more Indian drivers appearing in Formula 1 and will be going further up the grid.
The development of the Buddh International Circuit has already brought in interest from one major investor Sahara India. They have bought shares in Force India and have shown interest in bringing in more Indian drivers. That is exactly the kind of investment
support Indian GP will be hoping for to be recognised as a better force in the world of Formula 1.
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