An expensive picnic

Its been long … very long time since I seriously thought about coming back to this site and blog once more ....  Not that exciting things didn’t happen in last few months but I think in someway, I got caught in rat race to catch up with the world. Good to be back here…..


The latest one in my life is F1. And this time it wasn’t watching it on TV … though I miss days when dixit’s and panjwani’s got together, either south or east of Bangalore, to watch the race. Fortunately or incidently the newest F1 track was very very close to my home.


What made me purchase the tickets


No one offered me passes so I had to purchase :)
Frankly, the left half of my brain did not allow buying tickets although right one finally won at the end with lot of support and push from Geeta. Adding to the cause was proximity of F1 track to my office. …. I can claim that its very natural for a person, in a situation like mine, to give into the pressure and purchase tickets.


How was the experience


Its rather difficult to explain everything in words. But first a little background. Formula 1 is not a sports, I completely agree with our sports minister on this.
It is indeed rocket science. It is working with constraints which are beyond imagination. The Formula 1 car is a master piece. Most of people assume it to be fastest car but not many people understand that it is one of the most fuel efficient car for the power it delivers. one of the fastest computer is used inside the car to monitor the performance and adjust parameters continuosly. For example during the race, type pressure, fuel mixture etc is adjusted many times depending on tyre condition, weight of the car and speed demands from driver.
Gear shifts at much higher revolutions than standard cars. Difficult to believe but its 3500 times that gears are changed during the race and using only 0.05sec for each gear shift … The steering wheel itself is a eye catcher. With loads of information on tiny screen and dozens of buttons … the simplest to understand button being “DRINK” to let driver have some fluids so he does not dehydrate. Imagine yourself driving the car at 200Km/Hr and operating these buttons. Aerodynamics are no less compared to fighter jets with only difference being that the exterior parts on Formula 1 are made to keep the car on ground… as much as possible. The ordeal that drivers go through is also one of most exhausting ....


Sure this is not sport but something else but definitely Sachin is interested in it.

Coming back to the event. there were 2 support races before Formula 1 race at 2.45. We missed first support race but managed to see JK racing which uses formula 1600 cars. These are much simpler cars but still carry 4-5 times power than standard cars. Aerodynamics are also very good on these cars. The best part is that if someone is a racing aspirant then these are the machines on which they will practice.

Sahil was quite excited by the sight of these cars. I choose a stand which had two little curves. I thought that drivers will have to break a little to negotiate these turns. Moreover, there will be possibility of some overtaking. Soon, I was proved completely wrong about these assumptions. The formula 1600 cars sped away from that point before we could realize … but before they all went out of sight, it left a lot of excitement for me and sahil to talk about. Soon the cars got spaced away and there were very few gaps where we did not see a racing car. This all made one thing very clear, formula 1 cars are going to disappear from this spot sooner than I thought.

Post support race there was enough time for both of us to hang out in recreational area and have a sandwich and couple of drinks. We also chatted about drivers, their standings and formula 1 cars. Now, it was time for vintage car rally …they came one by one seated in a vintage car in ramdom order. I wish i had a better binoculars on that day.

After a while F1 cars came out for lineup. We were located quite far from starting line but the engines sound was piercing and thunderous.

The warm-up lap was flagged off. Again one by one each driver passed our section but this time in an F1 enclosure and we all were amazed to see these machines as they passed. Cameras came out… each one pointing to other to check some specific feature of car. But what took most of the focus was the sheer intensity of sound it was producing. Gear shift and throttle release sounds were also very distinguishable. Before they again lined up for final start of race, most of the ppl ran back outside to buy ear plugs … I too was one of them because by that time it was clear that “F1 can cause damage” to the ears. Imagine .. the empty sun shade case was vibrating whenever a car passed by us.

Once the race started, we could keep track of positions for to 8-10 laps, after which the last car was one lap down. I think stat management is better on TV compared to being at the venue …. unless you are sitting in main grand or premium stand. Also, events happening at other sections are not felt (e.g Massa Hamilton tiff). The commentary was audible for the first few laps but then as the cars spaced out, every second there was a car going around our section and it was impossible to hear the commentary. Sahil was using his ear plugs but I was enjoying the experience without it. Finally we lost track of number of laps too and somewhere around 4.30pm we saw Sachin waving chequerred flag and vettel showing his thumb. We waited for vettel to pass by us hoping that he will be slower this time but again slow is relative. He must be around 150Km/h when he passed by us.


After that I and sahil rushed out and thus began the most adventurous part of the day. By the time I booked the F1 tickets, the parking tickets were sold out and we had to use “Park&Ride” shuttle. To reach to the PnR shuttle point, there was another inner shuttle. With almost half of 95000 ppl using the shuttle, the scene outside was not very different from post-independence era. People … and they were elite class …. sat on roof of busses to reach to their BMW’s and Mercs. they would stand in middle of the road to somehow stop the bus so that they could board. The people inside felt priviliged ... it was horrible and completely under-estimated.
Somehow we managed to hop on one of them and were on our way to parking lot …. Before we could think that we are lucky that we got into a bus … the driver made us realize that the jam we are stuck in is around kilometer long and don’t expect that we will get out soon.


“Soon” … I learnt the meaning of “soon” at that time. It was exactly 1hour30min before we were back on highway. Sahil on bonnet of the bus and me acting as navigator to driver (its good to know the shortcuts sometime). Finally we reached parking lot and again took some shortcuts to reach home faster than people who were struck on Noida-Delhi expressway.


When Geeta asked me how the day was, unexpectedly I did not remember a thing from race but only the shuttle journey back to parking lot. After straining myself a bit, I could tell her about the race too :)


That all said, I still find that it was an exciting and memorable experience. I hope that it will have a long term effect on people in india. I hope that a few mechanical engineers watching the race from one of stands, dedicate themselves to build a car and its engine.


For some, the event could be a life changer for others its an expensive picnic. Both ways it pays for itself. I also would like to appreciate mayavati’s governance; I can see a real turn around for UP if she continues for next 10 years. The focus on infra structure development is very evident and in my opinion, it is something which was hugely lacking in past. The next on radar is night safari and a full fledged sports city with cricket stadium and football grounds. The opportunities are going to be many … lets see how we are going to welcome them.




The pics this time are on facebook only :
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.266249050080226.60927.100000854005862&type=3&l=b76dc10558