A tornado of a tycoon, an intrepid entrepreneur and most of all, an individual who is never to tolerate unjustified opinions, Vijay Mallya hit back to the Indian public for not supporting the chase to find the ideal F1 driver.
Mallya counters to the Indian F1 Driver criticism
He thinks it is not only unfair but also unneeded. According to him, the public should be in full encouragement to finding the right and able talent that will represent the country in international races rather than passing negative judgment on not already having found one. He told Reuters, “Indian Formula One fans should be proud of their own team rather than bemoaning the lack of homegrown talent on the starting grid”.
Vijay Mallya is the owner of Force India and has been on the lookout for the country’s F1 driver but has been unsuccessful so far. He already has German Adrian Sutil and British Paul di Resta but now wants a driver from India itself. He has expressed how unlucky the India drivers are who do not have proper teams to compete with. He also said that while there were 2 Indians last May’s Friday practice, there were none in the British Grand Prix that was recently held.
Hispania dropped Narain Karthikeyan and took up Australian Daniel Ricciardo who debuted for the Red Bull. The Grand Prix that is to be held in Delhi at the end of this year will have the Indian however.
“There has got to be good, raw talent in India and I am determined to go find it,” said Mallya. Mallya also said that Italy celebrates when Ferrari makes it in the top two of the Grand Prix, when Ferrari wins the Grand Prix but there has been no regular Italian who has drove a Ferrari in the Grand Prix. In fact it was Alberto Ascari who won back in 1953 and since then, there has been no regularity. He said, “If Ferrari is on the podium, the whole of Italy applauds. If Ferrari wins a race, the whole of Italy celebrates. Nobody ever asks the question of where is the Italian driver?”
The tycoon said that the people should be happy that India at least is being represented. The drivers too will follow. All the country needs is patience. Like his other ‘hunts’, there too is a ‘one in a billion hunt’ to find the right Indian talent that would represent the country and Mallya’s team into F1 racing. One who will be selected will get a chance to move to Silverstone, where the Force India’s factory is located and will get to continue his education there.
With such a tempting offer on the line, India is surely going to see some young aspiring talents boon to the benefits of this hunt and of course, raise the tricolor.
Tags: Driver, F1, Force India, Formula One, Grand Prix, Indian Grand Prix, Narain Karthikeyan, Vijay Mallya
