Well i pondered over why Narain got his break into F1 all of a sudden. well is it really that managers saw his potential only now or what??? where were they all these years? The same person who raced along with Jenson Button the year previous to Button's entry into F1 was four years late even though he was only a few points below button in that formula 3000 series...Why then did he receive this offer now???
Well economic reasons obviously buddy...the viewership for F1 in India is on the rise and India is no more the dull market it used to be. It has people who have more disposable income than before. Meaning that people are graduating from just motorcycles to cars and what better place to showcase your car's engineering skill and what not of your car than in F1, the show business of automobiles. Narain is the right vehicle for them. The day of the first race, all the media had a dedicated section on the rules of f1, the teams, the drivers and what not of the f1. Every media wanted a piece of f1 news. Schumacher became an overnight household name in India if he was not already one. We even learned about the new legislation on having the national flag on your sporting wear. This issue did not gain much focus even through cricket (everyone easily recalls Sachin's headgear having the national flag. However no one noticed the flag's absence until the issue of Narain, should not wear his normal helmet which has the tricolour on it, sprang up).
Also F1, facing a lot of problems related to banning of tobacco advertisements in European countries, is looking for venues in Asia where the legislations are not that strict for tobacco advertisements. The fact that tobacco drives F1 is an undisputable one. Slowly the companies are looking for alternate sponsors is also true for very obvious reasons. This has reflected in the large number of races in Asia in the last decade - Japan, Malaysia, Bahrain, China. The last two were very recent additions. It might not be very long before we see a chinese driver!!! Sounds interestig ain't it???
Well now what is the point? Narain is into F1. we Indians are happy, the f1 managers are happy, everyone is happy. Make hay while the sun shines
