What happened to F1 in India? Will F1 race in India again?

India has hosted three races between 2011 and 2013 at the Budh International circuit, before it was locked by Yamura Expressway Industrial Development Authority.

The Budh International circuit was originally signed to a 5-year deal but in 2014 the race was postponed due to tax dispute between the circuit and FIA. Local governments classed F1 as entertainment rather than a sport, which would mean the FIA would have to pay entertainment tax to the Indian government which was deemed to be too expensive by the F1 organiser causing the race to soon be dropped from the calendar.

Former Indian, Lotus F1 driver Karun Chandok, shared his views on the future of F1 in India to the Motor Sport podcast in 2019. In the interview Chandok stated that “unless the government has a change of heart and gets behind the sport, i don’t see it happening again.”. He added “India has, and has, a huge F1 fanbase. When we went to race at places like Istanbul, i remember 2007 being on the grid, we looked up at the grandstand and there were 11 people. In contrast, the first Indian GP had 110,000”.

image: Autosport

Chandok concluded: “it’s just a shame that financially, the government wasn’t willing to back it”.

Will F1 race again in India?

While it has been made clear over again that it is in the hands of the Indian government over the future of the sport in India, the potential of an F1 return to the country shouldn’t be completely ruled out.

it’s not impossible that F1 returns to India, with other motorsport series making a debut in India over the 2023 season. Formula E was the first to bring it back to India, with the first Indian E-prix in February, racing in Hyderabad. 2023 will also see MotoGP compete in India for the first time, at the former F1 circuit in September. With other series starting to race in the state, it is looking possible that in the late future F1 comes back to India.