- F1 estimates its Indian fanbase sits at around 79m fans
- F1 must “push further” in the whole of the Asian market
- Meanwhile, offer to race in Rwanda is “growing and of interest”
Formula One says it could be doing more to engage its estimated 79 million-strong fanbase in India.
The sport last staged a race in the world’s most populous nation 13 years ago, with the short-lived Indian Grand Prix lasting just three editions between 2011 and 2013.
A return to the calendar is unlikely in the medium term, but Liam Parker, chief communications and corporate relations officer at Formula One, told BlackBook Motorsport the series was exploring other ways of engaging and monetising a growing, relatively untapped market.
“One thing that a few of us inside the organisation are talking about at the moment in terms of a strategic approach is I think there’s more we could be doing in India,” said Parker.
“We don’t have a race there [but] we have had a race there – it’s complicated to go back there and do that in the short and medium-term, but you’ve got a younger, more affluent, dynamic audience and market in India.”
Parker says Formula One’s broadcast relationship with streaming service FanCode, which recently renewed its agreement until 2028, has helped increase its Indian fanbase from fewer than 60 million in 2004. And although there is no Indian driver currently on the grid, Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad has Indian ancestry through his mother. Earlier this year, the Brit drove a demonstration car in front of fans at the Red Bull Moto Jam in New Delhi.
Parker went further to highlight “the whole Asian market is probably somewhere where we also need to push further”. He acknowledged that there is an offer on the table for a race in Thailand, as well as other places in Asia, which should assist in the series’ goal to engage more fans in the region.
While the former bid is heavily influenced by home hero Alex Albon currently driving in Formula One, Parker stressed that this alone is not enough to join the schedule.
“What happens if people don’t turn up? People don’t return in year two? [If] there’s no commercial deal around it and people don’t fall in love with the sport [or] they have empty grandstands? That’s not what we want,” he said.
“We want to go [to a new country] and stay for five, ten years, so that is the big question for us: what is strategically the best thing for our sport, for the fans, and for the future of the championship?”
Parker also confirmed “there’s a Rwandan offer that is growing and of interest” as part of Formula One’s desire to return to Africa for the first time since 1993.
This bid was first revealed in December 2024 by the country’s president Paul Kagame, but the series has faced questions around associating itself with such a controversial regime.
Notably, Human Rights Watch states that several high-profile critics of the government have been arrested or threatened and authorities regularly fail to conduct credible investigations into cases of enforced disappearances and suspicious deaths of government opponents.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has also previously urged Formula One to avoid a “blood-stained association” with Rwanda.
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