The youth of India grow up on a diet of cricket, cricket and more cricket. However, Formula One raced into India for the first time aiming to capture the imagination of the world(***)s second most populous nation [GALLO/GETTY]
Published On 31 Oct 201131 Oct 2011
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Embarrassed after Delhi(***)s lack of preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the organisers of the event worked up to the last minute to make sure the Buddh International Circuit in Noida was up to F1 standards. Some of the fans even helped with the finishing touches, such as painting railings and the fake grass [GALLO/GETTY]
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The sophistication of the Race Control building - decked out in the nation(***)s colours - has impressed the teams and drivers arriving at the circuit [GALLO/GETTY]
A few weeks ago F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone was concerned that the Indian GP would not take place, however, he has since given the circuit a big thumbs-up and says the organisers have done a "great job" [GALLO/GETTY]
The pressure will be on HRT(***)s Narain Karthikeyan to impress at his home GP. He is the only Indian driver taking part in the race but is likely to struggle driving one of the slowest cars on the grid. About the occasion, Karthikeyan said: "Driving in front of the home crowd cheering on is going to be a surreal experience. A once in a lifetime experience, and I feel extremely fortunate" [GALLO/GETTY]
Unfortunately fellow Indian driver Karun Chandhok of Team Lotus has missed out on the opportunity to race at his home GP. The driver(***)s lack of running this season led to team principal Tony Fernandes choosing the more experienced Jarno Trulli to partner Heikki Kovalainen [GALLO/GETTY]
McLaren driver Jenson Button took a tuk-tuk for a spin around the circuit ahead of the GP but will be hoping for something a bit faster to drive on the big day [AFP]
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This is the specially designed helmet that will be worn by Lewis Hamilton during the race to pay tribute to Bob Marley. Many of the drivers(***)s cars and helmets will carry the logos and numbers of British racer Dan Wheldon and Italian MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli, who both died in accidents since the previous Korean Grand Prix [GALLO/GETTY]
The start of the first practice session of the Indian Grand Prix went to the dogs after a couple of strays resulted in a brief paws in proceedings [GALLO/GETTY]
When the first practice did get underway, Lewis Hamilton recorded the fastest lap time to then be informed of a three-place penalty on the starting grid for ignoring yellow warning flags. In the second practice run, Felipe Massa finished quickest ahead of champion Sebastian Vettel [GALLO/GETTY]
Already crowned 2011 Formula One World Champion, Sebastian Vettel gave Red Bull a F1 record of 16 poles in a single season after finishing fastest in qualifying. Teammate Mark Webber lines up on the front row next to him after Lewis Hamilton(***)s penalty moves him from second to fifth [GALLO/GETTY]
Around 95,000 fans watched Vettel cruise to victory [GALLO/GETTY]
Sebastian Vettel proved he was no one-hit wonder cruising to a second F1 world title with Red Bull. The German became the youngest back-to-back world champion to successfully defend the title and also established a new world record for most pole positions in a season [GALLO/GETTY]
If that wasn(***)t enough, Vettel also set a record for the most laps led in a single season by any driver [GALLO/GETTY]
McLaren(***)s 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari(***)s Felipe Massa continued their feud, colliding in their sixth on-track clash of the season. Stewards ruled that the Ferrari driver was in the wrong this time [GALLO/GETTY]
