"All in all it was a smooth race, the car was very well balanced,” Vettel said. “I’m very proud to be the first winner here in India.” Vettel secured his second world title in Japan three weeks ago and Sunday won his 11th race of the season at the first Indian Grand Prix.
Vettel led from start to finish, building a comfortable lead and finishing 8.4 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso a distant third at the Buddh International Circuit. Vettel turned in a flawless performance, leading every lap and posting the fastest lap.
It was basically a good day for everyone. Even the only Indian driver in the race, Narain Karthikeyan was a very satisfied and relived man today despite uncertainty over his future in the next formula one season. Karthikeyan could not score any point at India's first ever F1 Grand Prix because he was never in contention due to a slow car at this disposal but he got the best possible result - a 17th place - after starting last on the grid.
The weekend has been filled with excitement and a lot of anticipation. Even though Formula One is not as famous as Cricket or Football, it still saw a lot of crowd and most of the people in the country were hooked onto their TV sets this Sunday afternoon.
Celebrities were also super excited about this Indian Grand Prix which was evident from their non-stop tweets. Rahul Bose tweeted,"Young F1 fans travelling to Delhi spotted a mile away. Ferrari t-shirts, shades, shorts...Foggy day in Delhi. Presume it will lift before long. Psyched for the race!"
Shah Rukh Khan who made his presence felt at the race as well as the Lady Gaga concert later Tweeted in the morning,"Long flight great sleep. Got pleasantly hit by the Delhi winter start. refreshed..reloaded..ready to enjoy F.One and 'Ra.One' in my hometown i am ON."
Roshan Abbas's tweet read, "The Buddha international circuit! Encompass in the thick of it! Our team has worked for this moment! Proud of them."
While, Preity zinta who was also spotted at the Race tweeted, "Driving to the Formula 1 Race! So excited....Cannot believe the crazy traffic and how hot it is! Bring on the speed boyz.. We are ready!" Jackie Bhagnani, Madhur Bhandarkar, Dino Morea, Gaurav Kapur were other celebrities who were updating their followers about the F1 race.
All in all, the first Indian Grand Prix was a success for sure. The young winner finally was quoted saying the same, "I am very proud to be the first winner here in India. It is a very impressive country." Looks like India will get back to its "India-Shining" mode on the sports front at least.