India’s recent success at the London Olympics was once again recognised as bronze medallist Gagan Narang waved the chequered flag to Sebastian Vettel’s second Indian Grand Prix title on Sunday.
At a buzzing Buddh International Circuit, Narang, who won the bronze medal in the 10M air rifle event at the Games, was just one of a league of A-list celebrities who walked around the paddock.
But the shooter was handed the biggest honour of them all by being asked to wave the flag as Vettel flew by for his fifth win of the season. Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar waved the flag last year.
Vettel led from start to finish and extended his lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on the drivers’ championship table by 13 points to go into the last three races of the season with a relatively comfortable lead.
Interestingly, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was expected to hand over the trophy to Vettel, was not present due to Cabinet reshuffle, and a non-descript Noida District Authority official Rakesh Bahadur was asked to do the needful. “Once we found out that the chief minister was not coming to the track because of his commitments, it didn’t matter who presented the trophy,” noted an official.
A rather unusual approach, given that several sportspersons like Harbhajan Singh and former India skipper Mohammed Azharuddin were present at the paddock. If that was not enough, actors Neha Dhupia, Gul Panag, Sonakshi Sinha and Ajay Devgn, among others, were also around and could have handed the trophy to the eventual winner.
That moment of minor callousness aside, it was an event to be proud of.
Around 65,000 people turned up at the stadium that has a capacity of over one lakh, draped in their team’s colours and swaying to a local band’s beat. It was a promising sign for motor sports in India.
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