COOPER: Indian GP Track Superb

Formula 1

COOPER: Indian GP Track Superb

The consensus here in Delhi is that we all hope we have an entertaining and most importantly safe weekend...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted October 28, 2011 New Delhi (IND)

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing RB7 Renault, leads Bruno Senna, Lotus Renault GP R31 Buddh International Circuit, New Delhi, India. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

As you’ve probably read by now, the Indian GP has been welcomed by the F1 paddock, and thus far, all reviews have been positive.

Of course the actual venue is a little rough around the edges, and then so was Korea, which was also finished at the last minute – not that much work has been done over the past 12 months to tidy up.

But the key thing is, the track is superb, and surely now ranks as the best ever produced by Hermann Tilke – although the German designer’s critics might say that is not such a great distinction!

Most people are enjoying the experience of being in this remarkable and country. I’ve been here a couple of times – once to Chennai (Madras) on holiday, and once to Mumbai (Bombay) for a press event – but even with that prior knowledge, India has been an amazing experience, and a real assault on the senses.

While it’s been an upbeat weekend so far, the events of the past couple of weeks have not been far from people’s minds. Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli were known to many in the F1 paddock, and those who didn’t know them personally had followed their careers and were well aware of their achievements.

Tragedies like these have an impact far beyond the series in which they take place, and inevitably they make competitors in all categories stop and think about what they are doing.

The deaths are being commemorated in various ways. Jarno Trulli has a Simoncelli tribute helmet, Fernando Alonso has stickers remembering both men, and Jenson Button is wearing an armband with Wheldon’s name on.

Yesterday I asked Jenson what impact the tragedies had made on him, and he gave a full and very thoughtful response.

“All motor sport is dangerous, it doesn’t matter what you do,” he said. “But there are different levels of danger. MotoGP is MotoGP. You can’t get away from the fact that you don’t have anything around you. We have a cockpit around us, if they fall off the bike they fall off the bike. They can’t get away from another bike coming towards them. It’s been the same for 50 years.

“Whereas in F1 the improvements we’ve made since the early nineties, very high cockpits and what have you, it really does help us. I think we are the safest motor sport there is, which is good for us.

There’s still danger involved, but when you’re looking at IndyCar they are flat out most of the time on the big ovals, it’s such high speed, 230mph – it’s such a high speed to be within a few centimeters of other cars.

“But that’s what IndyCar is, that’s what it’s all about, so I don’t think anything will change. It’s very unusual that you get a fatality in IndyCar, and it’s horrendous when it happens. You’ve got to say at those speeds, with so many cars, if you’re going to have an accident, something’s going to happen. When I saw the accident I thought more people would have been injured.

“It was a massive shock for me because I’ve known him since such a young age. Dan was working hard on improving the safety of IndyCar, because he was working on the new car, which is a lot safer than the cars that are actually racing. It’s a terrible loss.”

Wheldon’s accident had a particular impact on Button because he had known him for so long. We tend to forget that there are drivers out there who have known each other since they were kids, thanks to coming up in karting at the same time. Indeed Button and Wheldon were contemporaries who found themselves fighting all the way until Formula Ford, when Button got the big break and was propelled into F3 and then – almost without pausing for breath – into F1. With no options in Europe, Wheldon started a new life in the USA.

“I’m not close to Dan like I used to be, I haven’t raced against him since ’98,” said Jenson. “I’ve seen him around the paddock – last year was the last time I saw him – but we raced against each other since we were eight years old. He was always the guy to beat, the years that I remember from when we were very young in cadets in karting he always had a big number one on his car, he was always the British champion.

“He’s the guy you got out of bed in the morning and thought, I want to beat him. More often than not you didn’t, so we had a lot of good fights in our career in karting. He’s the guy that I followed into Europe in karting. Then we both ended up Formula Ford together. We had some great battles in Formula Ford.

“We had our comings together, we didn’t see eye to eye a lot of the time, but I think we had a mutual respect in terms of the way we went racing. I had a great race with him at the [Brands Hatch] Festival, I was lucky enough to come out on top by about that much at the end of the race.

Formula One drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton paid tribute to Indy 500 winner and fellow Brit Dan Wheldon, who died after a crash in Las Vegas on Sunday. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“I think you’ve got to take the good memories from it. It’s very difficult when the sport has lost someone as good as Dan, but I think you’ve got to remember what he’s given to the sport.”
I also asked Lewis Hamilton what impact the tragedies had had, especially on his views on safety. His answer was heartfelt, and actually very revealing.

“It’s not had an impact in terms of my personal safety. But F1 is a lot safer than IndyCar, and a lot safer than motorbikes, of course. It’s been a big knock to the whole of motor sport, no one expected that to happen, of course. You’d never wish that on anyone. So I think everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with those individuals and their families. I don’t think any of us, unless you’ve lost someone really close, can imagine what they’re going through.

“I can only guess, and I can feel quite confident that those individuals didn’t die in vain. They loved what they did, and I think we’re all probably in a similar position where if we’re going to go, we want to do it doing what we love doing.”

The consensus here in Delhi is that we all hope we have an entertaining and most importantly safe weekend, and one that does something positive for the sport we all love.

Adam Cooper notched up his 26th season as a racing journalist in 2010. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam Cooper

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