For Force India's speedsters, our roads are natural speed breakers

Force India drivers Adrian Sutil, Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg may be speed demons on the racing circuit, but even the thought of India’s roads acts as a natural speed breaker to their enthusiasm for driving. At an event to launch Kingfisher’s Sahara Force India cans in Mumbai today, the team’s drivers Sutil, Di Resta and Hulkenberg all didn’t seem too keen to take on India’s potholed roads. When asked if they would like to test their driving skills on India’s roads, Sutil — who is German — said it would be quite a challenge to drive in India, but if he had to he would choose to try driving in Delhi and not Mumbai. [caption id=“attachment_117073” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Sahara Force India Formula One driver Adrian Sutil of Germany waves beside test driver compatriot Nico Hulkenberg during a promotional event. Reuters”]  [/caption] “Traffic in Mumbai is worse than Delhi and it would be quite different and difficult to race on roads here,” he said, adding, “I’m glad we are racing on a normal circuit.” Countryman Hulkenberg, nodded in agreement with Sutil. “Driving in India seems very different and if I had to drive, I too would choose Delhi for sure,” he said. “In Germany, everyone follows traffic rules, but here there are no rules and one has to keep an eye on the other car to see what the driver is doing.” And while they may be unimpressed with the lack of regulation, bumper to bumper traffic and cutting lanes, they are mighty impressed about the driving skills of people in India. “Drivers here definitely have impressive judgement and a good eye,” says Hulkenberg. Sutil goes a step ahead. “There may be quite a few racing drivers in the making here — with the great judgement they possess,” he said chuckling. But, Hulkenberg is impressed with more than just Indians’ driving skills. Hulkenberg, who has visited India a couple of times earlier, says he also loves its people and its food. “I have been to India many times earlier and the people here are very welcoming. They are always smiling and looking at them I feel very positive,” he says. And while Di Resta — a Scotsman — is the closest among the three drivers to being British, it is Hulkenberg who loves UK’s national dish, the chicken tikka masala. “My favourite Indian food,” he says, “is chicken tikka masala and paneer.” The event had all the Mallya melodrama one would expect — four flamboyant Kingfisher girls (blaring in red and baring their midriffs), a percussionist drumming up some support and of course, India’s best selling beer flowing in plenty, (yes, no surprise) Kingfisher. But, the bubbly at Mumbai’s Hard Rock Café was undoubtedly Sahara Force India’s talented, young drivers — Adrian Sutil, Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg — leading India’s first and only Formula One team into India’s first ever F1 sporting event. Let’s hope that the good times for India’s formula one fans has just begun.