History
As early as 1997, there were plans to host an Indian Grand Prix at Calcutta. In 2003, India had only two permanent raceways, one in Chennai (Irungattukottai), and Kari Memorial Speedway in Coimbatore. At that time two 600 acres (2.4 km2) sites in the vicinity of the Bangalore airport were examined. Also, in the state Andhra Pradesh, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu reserved 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) of land near the airport at Hyderabad. Vicky Chandhok, father of Karun Chandhok, stated in an interview that "Andhra Pradesh is really pushing it like no other state! It is great to see a chief minister pushing so hard. Bangalore is a great location mainly because of the weather". In December 2003, a seven-year pre-agreement to host the GP in Hyderabad in 2007 was signed. The track was to be built near Gopanapally village, near the outskirts of Hyderabad, and consisted of 1,367 acres (5.53 km2) of land.
However, in 2004 there came competition from Mumbai, to shift the track from Hyderabad to Mumbai instead. Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone expected India to host a Grand Prix within three years, aiming for locating at either Hyderabad or Mumbai. In the end these projects were never realised, possibly due to anti-tobacco legislation, and a change in government policy. Both projects then were declared "dead" in the second half of 2004, when Mumbai's government decided "not to waste money on car fumes while there are more serious issues", and the Hyderabad location was converted to an IT park for technology companies. However, sites at Mumbai were still being investigated (Gorai and Navi Mumbai). In 2005, Narain Karthikeyan was due to demonstrate a Jordan Grand Prix car in Mumbai, but the road proved to be too bumpy.
In 2007, five locations remained in the running for hosting the Indian Grand Prix: Bangalore; the Gurgaon district in the state of Haryana; a permanent track somewhere near New Delhi; a street circuit in New Delhi, as proposed by Vijay Mallya; and a site in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Following months of negotiations, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Ecclestone announced in June 2007 a provisional agreement for India to host its first Grand Prix as a part of the 2009 Formula One season. The track would be built in Gurgaon, in consultation with architect Hermann Tilke.
However, in September 2007 the IOA announced that the debut race would take place in 2010 on the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. After further assessments of the timeframe involved, Ecclestone announced in September 2008 that the Indian Grand Prix has been delayed to 2011.
In October 2008, the Renault F1 team showcased their car on a tour across all sites that were previously linked to a Formula One circuit in India, except Mumbai: Gurgaon, Lucknow, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Calcutta. In November 2008 they also performed a street demonstration on Rajpath at the India Gate end, New Delhi; the car was driven by Nelson Piquet, Jr.. In August 2009, the McLaren team showcased their car in Lucknow. On 11 October 2009, the Red Bull Racing team gave a demonstration in Mumbai. David Coulthard drove the Red Bull car across Mumbai's Bandra Worli Sealink.
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