Formula 1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali has confirmed that there is “big interest” from the championship in returning to India. However, he has also cautioned that any revival of the Indian GP is still several years away and will require several conditions to be met.
“There is a big interest from us to return to your country,” Domenicali told F1 India broadcaster FanCode. “There are the right things that we need to do – to again find back the right promoters, the right collaboration and the right timing, which will not be in the very short term. But when we talk about five years in Formula 1, it seems to be very far away, but it’s not.”
- Domenicali stresses the need for right promoters, investment and stakeholder support
- UP government has signed an MoU to bring MotoGP and ARRC to BIC
F1 wants India return to be done right
Domenicali’s comments come amid a renewed push to bring F1 back to India. The Adani Group, which is currently in the running to acquire the Buddh International Circuit (BIC), has confirmed that it is actively exploring plans to revive the race.
At the government level, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya recently told the media that the Indian GP could return as soon as 2027. However, at the time, F1 media confirmed to Autocar India that this timeline is not realistic, adding that while India remains a key market for F1, “organising and delivering races are complex matters that take time”. This is now being reiterated by Domenicali, who said, “There is not yet a fixed date on which we can really say something, but we see the interest that is growing at all levels.”
BIC hosted the F1 Indian GP from 2011 to 2013. The track and its facilities drew praise from the F1 community at large, but the race was dropped from the calendar mainly due to the Uttar Pradesh government’s taxation policy at the time, which classified F1 as entertainment rather than sport. Domenicali shared that when F1 does return to India, it cannot be a half-measure.
“It is very important to say that we need to feel the interest from all the stakeholders of India because this is a project that, when we reach back to your country, has to be big,” said Domenicali. “It has to be the right one, with the right level of investment and the right level of people, because your market is just phenomenal. I just want to guarantee that we're going to be there for sure one day and in the right condition,” he added.
High costs and a packed calendar are challenges
While the road to the return of the Indian GP is long, there are encouraging signs. The Uttar Pradesh government’s State Transformation Commission recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AVW Global to bring MotoGP back to BIC. There are also plans to host Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) races at the venue.
For F1, specifically, though, the hurdles are considerable. Hosting fees now reportedly range from USD 70 million to USD 150 million per race – a steep climb from the figures when F1 last raced at the BIC. Moreover, calendar slots are limited, leaving even established venues like Spa-Francorchamps and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to alternate races every other year.
Securing a spot for India on the F1 calendar is far from straightforward, and as Domenicali highlighted, it’s a long-term project, not an imminent one.
Dinshaw Magol
