It was a day filled with nail-biting tension. At stake was more than $400 million and the possibility of facing a global-scale embarrassment. But as Charlie Whiting, the Formula 1 race director came out after inspecting the twists and turns and gleaming tarmac of the brand new Buddh International Circuit in Noida he had a smile on his face that instantly told a tale. The track inspection was over and India’s Formula 1 dream had just received the thumbs up.

Now the sporting circus is coming to town. And what a circus it is. The stars of the show are 24 power-drenched monsters at the starting line and the macho speed-kings who ride them to glory.

Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel is currently ranked No.1 while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton (above) is No.5 in this season’s standings

In their wake will come a retinue of thousands of camp-followers. To get the race on the road and the cars on the track will be about 5,000 members from the F1 fraternity including drivers, teams’ crew and staff, and F1 officials. Also flying in from across the world are a gaggle of about 200 sporting journalists and 80 photographers trained to catch the F1 cars as they whiz past at top speed. And, don’t forget the diehard fans who’ll be trooping into the stands at the Buddh track for the first time.

Oh, and while we’re talking about star-power don’t forget Lady Gaga who’s coming for the opening night flag-off party and rockers Metallica who’ll be playing in Gurgaon on October 28.

“India has never seen a sporting event of this magnitude,” says Vicky Chandhok, president of the Motorsports Federation of India (FMSCI), who’s been working the phones and tying up all the tiniest details to ensure that India keeps its F1 tryst with destiny.

The Buddh International Circuit weaves and twists for 5.14km and its makers have pulled in the world’s top experts to turn it into one of the fastest in the world. The course offers a combination of 16 corners and high-speed straights and even has elevation changes to test the skills of the stars at the wheel. And, it also has one touch that most courses around the world don’t offer — the corners have been given extra width to allow for high-speed overtaking.

Nothing’s left to chance in the F1 high-speed stakes. Whiting and his inspection team checked the minutest details from the precise width of the corners to the material used for creating the track. A separate medical team looked at the mini-hospital at the track and the facilities for two helicopters that will be constantly on standby in case of injuries. They also visited Escorts and Apollo Hospitals a few miles away where drivers will be taken in case of emergency.

Being a Formula 1 driver is to belong to one of the most exclusive clubs in the world. At any given time there are only two drivers and two reserves. At the top of the charts currently is Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, who’s followed by McLaren’s Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. And don’t forget the all-time great Michael Schumacher who’s ageing but still one of the biggest and most recognised faces on the track. They’re all scheduled to be at the Noida track moving at average speeds of 210kmph when the race gets under way. And, of course, there’ll be India’s own racing star Narain Karthikeyan, driving for the Hispania team along with team member Daniel Ricciardo who’ll be driving the other car.

Force India will look to the upcoming Indian Grand Prix to rack up some points and catch up with the field

Of course, there’ll also be Vijay Mallya’s Force India which is currently placed 6th in the F1 team rankings. At the recent Singapore Grand Prix, the team recorded its best result of the season after Paul di Resta finished a career-best sixth and Adrian Sutil ended in eighth position.

The main race itself will stretch over a possible 305km or two hours — whichever comes first. During that time the racers can make any number of pitstops. Besides that, before the main race, the drivers will also make their appearance on the tracks for three practice sessions and a qualifying race.

To keep spectators amused there’ll be plenty of action through the day. There is, for instance, the JK Racing Asia support race being organised by JK Tyres in which 20 FB02 cars take part. More than 300 people will be flying in for the race which will run for around two hours. “These are also highly-skilled drivers mostly from Southeast Asia, Europe and Australia,” says Sanjay Sharma, head, motorsports at JK Tyres. “The purpose of a support race is to pump up the adrenaline levels of the fans before the race,” he adds.

Daniel Ricciardo set Delhi roads on fire as he zoomed down the 1km stretch linking India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan (seen here after driving the Red Bull NASCAR machine through the streets of Cardiff Bay, Wales)

Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher of Germany corners during the second practice session of the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix in September

Bringing the F1 circus to town has been a spectacularly costly exercise. Staging the race itself cost around Rs 1,500 crore ($375 million). And creating the track has involved spending about Rs 500 crore to Rs 600 crore. Further, it’s reckoned that the cost of the land and infrastructure is around Rs 1,550 crore.

On top of all that, the hosts of an F1 race — the Jaypee Group — have to pay rights fees of anywhere between Rs 63 crore and Rs 210 crore to the Formula One Administration (FOA). The Jaypee group had to acquire around 300 acres for the track, pits, paddocks, and stands.

“The entire process cost us around $400 million. Though the returns on investment of this magnitude are equally impressive,” says Askari Zaidi, senior vice president of Jaypee Sports International (JPSI). He adds: “It works on revenue sharing basis. We have a five-year contract with F1. The money generated from branding inside the track will go to the FOA while the promoter of the track JPSI will get the money garnered through ticket sales only.”

Besides that the group has built the road leading to the circuit and the nearby Jaypee Greens and Spa Resort. Most of the top drivers and other senior F1 officials will be staying at this resort.

The drivers and race officials won’t be short of entertainment at the resort. There will be plenty of after-race parties hosted by actor Arjun Rampal’s club LAP in association with the Jaypee Group. Says Ashwini Sharma, assistant general manager, sales at Jaypee Hotels: “Arjun Rampal will transform our three banquets, three conference rooms and the Royal Garden into a club.”

Inevitably, with a huge crowd descending on the city, all the hotels in Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon are scheduled to be jam-packed during the race days. Dhruv Kumar, a consultant at India vacation tours, which offers customised F1 tour packages to India says: “Since most of the hotels have been taken up, we have also put people in Gurgaon but even a standard package would cost around Rs 70,000 and could even go above Rs 2 lakh depending upon the customer’s needs.”

Among the officials also arriving at the city will be over 110 experienced race marshals from the Bahrain Motor Federation. They’ll be assisted by 230 local newcomers who have been trained for everything from handling a medical emergency to putting out fires.

Home boy Narain Karthikeyan will be driving for the Hispania team at the Indian F1 Grand Prix

Metallica will rock the pre-event show in the run up to D-day

One first-timer is Saurabh Vats, director, marketing and product planning at General Motors India who’s an F1 enthusiast and now part of fire and rescue team. “We were given two days’ training. One day of theory and another on the track,” he says.

Can motor racing bring in the kind of advertising big bucks that cricket does in this country? Of course, advertising rates are much lower than for cricket but ESPN Star Sports (ESS), the television partner which will telecast the race has sold out their inventory of 800 sec for each race. According to media buyers, ESS has sold 10-second slots for around Rs 1.5 lakh.

Top advertisers who’ve already signed up for the season include Sony, Samsung, Vodafone and Petronas.

Ticket sales are moving swiftly too. “The lowest denomination ones (Rs 6,500) are sold out,” says Sameer Kumar, national press officer, JPSI.

Inevitably, there are questions about whether such a gigantic investment will deliver returns. But the Jaypee Group is confident. It’s hoping to host a MotoGP race soon (the two-wheeler equivalent of Formula 1) and it has also tied up with Mercedes Benz to open a racing academy at the site next year. Says Jaypee’s Zaidi: “A wise businessman always has a foolproof business model to recover the amount invested and Jaypee is no different. Post the race, the track will be used for various corporate and sports events.”

In fact, there are signs that Jaypee has already managed to sell the site for a series of events. Says JK Tyres’ Sharma: “I’m awaiting permission from the JPSI to host the final of the National Racing Championship on November 27 at the venue. Apparently, there are three more parties who want the same date.”

Can the Formula 1 monsters bring in the big bucks like the Indian cricketers do and will motor racing take root in India in a big way? We’ll see soon as the cars line up at the starting grid and the high-speed action begins.

GRID GIRLS

They are the glamour-pusses of the racing world. But the grid girls for the Indian GP are expected to be slightly more toned down than their counterparts abroad. Here, to maximise publicity, the 48 grid girls are being selected during a TV reality show. The top three will be selected by a public vote in the show’s finale. Some will be stationed in the Paddock Club — the VIP enclosure. Others will escort the drivers at the ceremonial starts and finishes. They’ll also be present at the grid, the pits, and at the podium helping during the presentation.