When Adrian Newey was of interest to Force India (re-visited)

This is probably our final episode of 2022 - and it's a re-run of our most-popular episode from the Force India F1 Team stories. In this episode, Soumil Arora hosts former Force India F1 Team members, Ravikant Sabnavis and Kunal Shah (yes, he's also one of our co-hosts), to share interesting stories of their time with the team.

In this episode, the duo share how the Force India F1 Team discussed interest in hiring the legendary Adrian Newey, how Vijay Mallya wasn't the first owner of choice & how another popular Indian Motorsport figure let the opportunity to own the Silverstone-based team go by. Tune in!

(Season 2022, Episode 74)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Kunal Shah & Soumil Arora

Image courtesy: Red Bull Content Pool

# Force India F1 Team Stories: Adrian Newey, Ownership, and Sponsorship

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### Adrian Newey and Force India: A Missed Opportunity

* Force India considered hiring Adrian Newey, a legendary Formula One designer, in 2012.
* The idea was initiated by Subrata Roy Sahara, co-owner of Force India at the time.
* Newey was highly sought after due to his success with Red Bull Racing, winning multiple world championships.
* However, the deal fell through due to the significant financial investment required to hire Newey and make necessary upgrades to the team's infrastructure.

### Force India's Potential Ownership by Gautam Singhania

* Before Vijay Mallya acquired Force India, there was a possibility of Gautam Singhania, owner of Raymond Textiles, becoming the team's owner.
* Singhania initially expressed interest but later declined the offer, preferring to focus on his own business ventures.
* This decision ultimately led to Mallya taking over the ownership of Force India.

### Airtel's Sponsorship Dilemma: Indian Grand Prix vs. Force India

* Airtel, a major telecommunications company in India, was approached by Force India for a sponsorship deal.
* Force India presented a compelling proposition, highlighting the benefits of sponsoring a team over 20 races worldwide compared to sponsoring a single race, the Indian Grand Prix.
* However, Airtel opted to sponsor the Indian Grand Prix, considering it a more powerful platform to engage with Indian consumers and promote their brand in the country.

### Force India's Involvement in the Indian Grand Prix

* Force India played a limited role in organizing and promoting the Indian Grand Prix.
* The team primarily focused on promoting the event to their fans and raising awareness about the race.
* Force India's efforts contributed to the success of the Indian Grand Prix, attracting a large audience and generating significant media coverage.

### Superstition and Sponsorship Driving Force India's Car Livery Changes

* Vijay Mallya had superstitions about the color black and was hesitant to have a black car.
* In 2014, Force India's car livery changed to black and orange due to sponsorship agreements with Reebok and a Spanish apparel company.
* The team also briefly featured the logo of Royal Challengers Bangalore, a cricket team owned by Mallya, as a surrogate marketing strategy during races where alcohol branding was prohibited.

### Sponsorship Challenges in Formula One

* During Bernie Eccleston's tenure as Formula One's CEO, securing sponsorships was challenging due to the high cost involved.
* Many teams struggled to find title sponsors, leading to a trend of brands from various sports partnering to appeal to a wider audience.
* Force India's sponsorship strategy reflected this approach, with a mix of alcoholic beverage brands and non-alcoholic brands for races with alcohol restrictions.

## Force India F1 Team Stories: A Nostalgic Journey

**Key Insights:**

* The Force India F1 Team experienced a remarkable transformation under the leadership of Vijay Mallya, who brought his expertise in brand building to the team.
* Despite facing challenges in managing sponsor logos and liveries due to last-minute approvals, the team showcased creativity and adaptability to overcome these hurdles.
* The team's initiative, Speed Divas, aimed to create a glamorous brand image by featuring female ambassadors associated with the team, gaining significant attention and social conversations.
* Nico Hulkenberg's willingness to participate in promotional activities in India, such as riding in a twin-seater go-kart and taking a scooter ride to the paddock, exemplified his dedication to the team.
* Adrian Sutil's memorable moments included his musical performances and his return to the team after a year's absence, demonstrating his resilience and commitment.
* The Force India team's success in attracting large crowds during open days at races highlighted its growing popularity and fan base.

**Important Quotes:**

* "Hats off to VJM for being such a fantastic brand builder." - Kunal Shah
* "We had all these layouts with the Kingfisher ultra and you know, VJM on his yacht here and there with, you know, Kingfisher ultra, the emperor of good times. Who else could it be?" - Ravi Sabnavis
* "And then it was so successful that we then went and did a Kunal and I did a season two, this time with NDTV Good Times, which is a partner TV channel." - Kunal Shah
* "And I got to ride in a twin-seater go-kart with him at the circuit in Goa." - Kunal Shah
* "Adrian Sutil playing the piano in Mumbai. Blue Frog was it?" - Ravi Sabnavis

**Overall Message:**

The Force India F1 Team's journey was marked by innovation, creativity, and a strong emphasis on brand building. The team's success in attracting fans and sponsors, despite facing challenges, is a testament to the leadership and vision of Vijay Mallya and the dedication of the team members.

[00:00.000 -> 00:22.960] Well, 2022 at last draws to a close.
[00:22.960 -> 00:25.840] The season is over, thank goodness, and the banter awards
[00:25.840 -> 00:30.040] have also been delivered to their respective winners, at least in sentiment. Let's not
[00:30.040 -> 00:33.640] talk about the physical awards over there. But if there's one thing that's undoubted,
[00:33.640 -> 00:39.560] it's that 2022 was the year of Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey. Adrian Newey, of course,
[00:39.560 -> 00:43.760] for years has been part of championship winning teams, but it's so incredible to see yet
[00:43.760 -> 00:50.240] another one of his designs go out there and dominate the field much like he has done so many times in his past.
[00:50.240 -> 00:54.400] And in the past he's been linked to so many big teams. He was always a part of Williams,
[00:54.400 -> 00:58.560] of McLaren, when he went to Red Bull it was a big surprise but he's had links with
[00:58.560 -> 01:03.760] potentially a chance at Ferrari as well over the years. It's all these big ticket teams that Adrian
[01:03.760 -> 01:09.080] Newey has always been linked with but the most random of them all has to be Force India.
[01:09.080 -> 01:12.880] And that is the story that we're going to tell in this very episode. That time when
[01:12.880 -> 01:17.200] Adrian Newey was linked to Force India. And this was a part of our entire Force India
[01:17.200 -> 01:21.700] series on the Inside Line F1 podcast, where we just talk about the business and the management
[01:21.700 -> 01:30.600] side of running a Formula One team, and also the marketing side of it. And to discuss it all, of course, I was luckily enough joined
[01:30.600 -> 01:35.380] by Kunal Shah. Of course, Kunal is the normal host in the podcast. He has been the marketing
[01:35.380 -> 01:41.000] head of the Force India F1 team, but also by Kunal's mentor of sorts, Ravikant Sabnavis,
[01:41.000 -> 01:45.520] who was, let's say, the bigger head at the Force India F1 team of the marketing
[01:45.520 -> 01:49.360] side. Kunal and Ravikanth used to work together and they were the ones responsible for these
[01:49.360 -> 01:54.240] beautiful white and green and orange Indian tricolour liveries of Force India back in the day.
[01:54.240 -> 01:58.800] We had four amazing episodes and we're redonning all the episodes that we once did
[01:58.800 -> 02:03.200] in the middle of the year and the first one is about Adrian Newey to Force India
[02:03.200 -> 02:07.280] and when the Force India board had a big discussion about getting him on board
[02:07.680 -> 02:10.960] Trust me. This one is going to reveal a lot of fun stuff
[02:11.280 -> 02:14.160] Just as all the force india series episodes are going to do so
[02:14.320 -> 02:19.360] So if you enjoy this one, i'm sure you'll enjoy all the other three as well, but i'll leave you to it
[02:19.600 -> 02:23.440] What happened when newie nearly went to force india? Let's listen in
[02:23.480 -> 02:32.880] happened when Newi Neerli went to Force India. Let's listen in. Hey folks, welcome to this special episode of the InsideLineF1 podcast. Now, I might
[02:32.880 -> 02:38.240] be a bit blessed in this case because my destiny has just chosen to kind of live out the prophecy,
[02:38.240 -> 02:41.680] may the force be with you a bit too seriously, because I was wondering, well, how can that
[02:41.680 -> 02:49.840] happen? How can I have the force with me? But luckily enough, today, I've got two people who kind of ran the force behind Force India,
[02:49.840 -> 02:54.240] the Formula One team back in the day. Folks, I've got Kunal Shah, firstly, the former marketing
[02:54.240 -> 02:59.280] head of the Force India F1 team. And if you've heard of our Force India special episodes before,
[02:59.280 -> 03:04.240] we've also got Mr. Ravikanth Sabnavis. And your official title, sir, was it marketing head? Was
[03:04.240 -> 03:05.360] it something different to that?
[03:05.360 -> 03:07.160] I don't quite exactly remember.
[03:07.160 -> 03:09.160] It was Global Marketing Head, yes.
[03:09.160 -> 03:10.320] Global Marketing Head, wow,
[03:10.320 -> 03:12.160] that makes it feel extra special.
[03:12.160 -> 03:14.360] But folks, on this particular episode,
[03:14.360 -> 03:17.840] we've got so many fun stories to talk about,
[03:17.840 -> 03:19.440] including firstly, Kunal,
[03:19.440 -> 03:23.280] Force India potentially not being owned by Vijay Mallya.
[03:23.280 -> 03:24.720] Could that ever happen?
[03:24.720 -> 03:27.480] Well, yes, thank you for that introduction.
[03:27.480 -> 03:31.280] And it's, you know, you start every episode saying it's special.
[03:31.280 -> 03:32.640] And this is really special.
[03:32.640 -> 03:37.680] This is, you know, Ravi and me talking about Force India memories and you bringing them
[03:37.680 -> 03:46.360] out and, you know, but on a more serious note, not trying to be very emotional about it, is the way Force India, you know,
[03:46.400 -> 03:51.400] sort of galvanized the Formula One market and the Formula One fan and built the
[03:51.560 -> 03:52.720] community in India.
[03:53.280 -> 03:57.200] I don't see something like that happening very soon in the Indian market.
[03:57.200 -> 03:59.520] And which is why how we did it,
[03:59.560 -> 04:03.560] what we did is something so special that to us, of course,
[04:03.580 -> 04:05.200] because we were within the role
[04:05.200 -> 04:11.280] within several other people doing it as well. But also for fans to know how is it that teams
[04:11.280 -> 04:14.800] are built, brands are built, communities, communities are built and so on.
[04:14.800 -> 04:16.880] Come on, you can puff your chest out a little bit.
[04:18.080 -> 04:20.720] You mean more than the 56 inch chest?
[04:23.920 -> 04:26.240] It's just a part of the great work that you two have put in.
[04:26.240 -> 04:30.280] And it's amazing how memorable Force India still is to this day.
[04:30.280 -> 04:34.520] I mean, I still have great memories, even though I was what, eight or nine back in the
[04:34.520 -> 04:35.520] day?
[04:35.520 -> 04:40.160] Yeah, you were a little too young when we were having all the fun in Force India.
[04:40.160 -> 04:47.680] But coming to your question, you know, which is the most interesting part, right? So Force India, which of course was,
[04:47.680 -> 04:49.800] originally owned by Vijay Mallya
[04:49.800 -> 04:53.040] and then Subrata Roy Sahara became a share owner,
[04:53.040 -> 04:55.120] co-owner, whatever,
[04:55.120 -> 04:58.480] was not supposed to be owned by Vijay Mallya
[04:58.480 -> 05:02.260] back in 2008, 2009 when the deal happened.
[05:02.260 -> 05:08.800] So I happened to be in a conversation with Gautam Singhania, the promoter son of Raymond
[05:08.800 -> 05:13.520] Textiles or Raymond as the brand we know it, the complete man.
[05:13.520 -> 05:16.720] Whenever I hear the tagline, I remember Fernando Alonso, but yes.
[05:16.720 -> 05:17.720] Okay.
[05:17.720 -> 05:23.700] So what Gautam Singhania told me was that originally the Spiker Midland offer came to
[05:23.700 -> 05:27.440] him through Colin Collers, right? And,
[05:27.440 -> 05:32.680] and that he was interested in it, but he didn't want to buy it. So via a common friend who
[05:32.680 -> 05:39.080] we all know as Robert Fernley, he reached out to VJM or Vijay Mallya as we call him,
[05:39.080 -> 05:44.360] right? To say, Hey, would you be interested? And then the rest is history. And for those
[05:44.360 -> 05:45.040] of you listening,
[05:45.040 -> 05:50.800] Gautam Singhania, if I'm not mistaken, sir, owns a McLaren Senna. He owns a Lamborghini Countach.
[05:50.800 -> 05:56.400] And I know it's insider stuff, kind of, but once we had a party at his place for a race event that
[05:56.400 -> 06:02.000] he organized, he has a five floor garage full of all the supercars in the world. Now, how would
[06:02.000 -> 06:10.160] that have panned out if GHS was only the team as he's now called? Because there's no doubt that the funds are available. Or in fact,
[06:10.160 -> 06:13.680] as we can look at today, the funds are more readily and more consistently available. They
[06:13.680 -> 06:16.960] haven't quite dropped off in the years. Would Force India be on the grid today?
[06:18.320 -> 06:21.360] This is just all fascinating stuff. I can't imagine how things would have played out.
[06:21.360 -> 06:26.640] You know, the first thing that struck me was Gautam Singhania also runs a company called Raymond.
[06:26.640 -> 06:27.480] Yeah.
[06:27.480 -> 06:29.440] Otherwise, so what would it do?
[06:29.440 -> 06:33.240] Well, looking at his Instagram feed,
[06:33.240 -> 06:34.680] I don't think you'd be able to tell that,
[06:34.680 -> 06:36.160] to be honest with you.
[06:36.160 -> 06:37.000] Indeed.
[06:37.880 -> 06:38.720] Wow.
[06:38.720 -> 06:40.600] So why did it not go ahead eventually?
[06:40.600 -> 06:42.680] Well, he just said he wasn't interested
[06:42.680 -> 06:46.400] and that Vijay Mallya was interested more than
[06:46.400 -> 06:47.400] him.
[06:47.400 -> 06:51.400] Personally speaking, no idea if Force India would have still been on the grid or not or
[06:51.400 -> 06:53.220] what would have happened.
[06:53.220 -> 06:59.800] But I am pretty sure that that's not the only interesting headline story this episode.
[06:59.800 -> 07:04.400] I know Ravi is holding on to something that he wants to share with all of y'all.
[07:04.400 -> 07:09.520] Yes indeed. This was when Subrata Rai Sahara or Sahara Shree as we have called him,
[07:10.320 -> 07:15.120] actually wanted to hire somebody from one of the teams and that was an engineer.
[07:15.120 -> 07:20.720] An engineer? Wait, who was that? You know what, actually, let's answer that question
[07:20.720 -> 07:26.720] after the short break. Stay right here, folks. Hey folks, welcome back into the InsideLineF1 podcast,
[07:26.740 -> 07:30.600] where we were discussing the possibility of Subrata Roy,
[07:30.880 -> 07:34.360] Sri Sri Subrata Roy Shah Rashri, if I've said that correctly,
[07:34.560 -> 07:36.680] you can't add too few. I mean,
[07:37.040 -> 07:40.200] his name cannot be complete without at least four superlatives here or there,
[07:40.480 -> 07:43.480] but you were saying that he wanted to hire an engineer.
[07:44.280 -> 07:47.640] What, how special is it that we're discussing hiring an engineer?
[07:47.640 -> 07:49.080] Who is that even all about?
[07:49.400 -> 07:54.040] Absolutely. It wasn't just any ordinary engineer. It was Adrian Newey.
[07:54.280 -> 07:55.200] Adrian Newey?
[07:55.320 -> 07:56.120] Absolutely.
[07:56.120 -> 07:58.200] Hang on, the Adrian Newey.
[07:58.200 -> 08:01.680] And, and if, if I'm just arranging my timelines correctly,
[08:02.160 -> 08:04.040] you guys were there in a team till 2015.
[08:04.120 -> 08:11.320] That's right. Sahara bought in in 2011. Correct. In the middle, Red Bull won what? 11, 12, 13,
[08:11.320 -> 08:15.840] three world championships in the most dominant fashion and Force India wanted to hire Adrienne
[08:15.840 -> 08:23.960] Newey. Absolutely. How? So, okay, I may be slightly wrong here because Adrienne Newey
[08:23.960 -> 08:25.020] ended up joining Red Bull when
[08:25.020 -> 08:29.020] they were absolutely terrible, but still I can't make sense of it still.
[08:29.020 -> 08:31.840] So and that's where it all comes together, right?
[08:31.840 -> 08:37.760] And the thinking behind possibly what led Sahara Shree to actually even suggest that.
[08:37.760 -> 08:40.600] So this was, would have been in 2012.
[08:40.600 -> 08:45.880] And if I recall that was 2010, 11, they were already two dominant years for Red Bull.
[08:45.880 -> 08:46.880] Correct?
[08:46.880 -> 08:52.280] So, they were on a high and therefore Adrian Newey was also on a high and we were, if I
[08:52.280 -> 09:00.120] recall, we were in this board meeting in Chelsea and that was in Sahara Shree's residence
[09:00.120 -> 09:03.200] cum office in the UK.
[09:03.200 -> 09:06.300] And I think one of the questions he asked to the Force India
[09:06.300 -> 09:09.040] team is, listen, what makes Red Bull tick?
[09:09.040 -> 09:11.480] Quite simply, what's making them win?
[09:11.480 -> 09:14.640] And I remember Vijay I'm saying, Edwin Newey.
[09:14.640 -> 09:15.680] He says, who is that?
[09:19.200 -> 09:21.040] Who is that?
[09:21.040 -> 09:24.440] He's the brains behind the team.
[09:24.440 -> 09:26.800] Why don't we just hire him?
[09:26.800 -> 09:31.680] And I think I could see faces turning into different colors.
[09:31.680 -> 09:33.820] There was palpable shock.
[09:33.820 -> 09:36.720] How could you even think about hiring Adrian Newey?
[09:36.720 -> 09:39.720] So Vijay said, well, he costs $10 million.
[09:39.720 -> 09:43.000] So, let's get him.
[09:43.000 -> 09:50.100] He says, no, when you hire somebody like Adrian Newey, besides his salary, he's going to ask
[09:50.100 -> 09:55.420] for lots of tech related investments, whether it's the wind tunnel, this and that.
[09:55.420 -> 10:00.900] So he says, you're going to be staring at a bill upwards of $25 million.
[10:00.900 -> 10:02.460] Wow.
[10:02.460 -> 10:04.420] And why did it not go ahead eventually?
[10:04.420 -> 10:06.920] Was that it? The reason why? I mean, was that
[10:06.920 -> 10:09.920] because it was too costly?
[10:09.920 -> 10:15.160] You know, I think that's the reason. Simply because that was the reality check. That,
[10:15.160 -> 10:19.720] yes, he's the best in the business. But to begin with, he comes at a certain cost. And
[10:19.720 -> 10:28.180] then he brings in add on costs. And that for a team like Force India, you know, which was probably spending upwards
[10:28.180 -> 10:36.440] of 75 million, you know, to simply spend this much on one man would have been just too much.
[10:36.440 -> 10:39.420] And if I recall, Kunal, we were also sharing a wind tunnel.
[10:39.420 -> 10:40.420] That's correct.
[10:40.420 -> 10:41.420] Right?
[10:41.420 -> 10:42.420] Yes.
[10:42.420 -> 10:51.120] So, to be able to do all this would not have been possible. So, it was a great idea, which I think Subrata Roy had as a new member of the Force India
[10:51.120 -> 10:54.000] and F1 community.
[10:54.000 -> 10:57.960] I don't believe a formal offer was made though, unfortunately.
[10:57.960 -> 11:03.600] I wish that would have happened and that would have been fantastic to have a media leak saying
[11:03.600 -> 11:06.240] Force India makes an offer to Adrian Newey
[11:06.240 -> 11:09.840] would have been fantastic isn't it? You know what Kunal I think what you have in mind when
[11:09.840 -> 11:13.680] you say fantastic is you're trying to imagine Adrian Newey doing the Sahara Pranam.
[11:15.760 -> 11:21.360] Right hand on the left chest and then saying Sahara Pranam oh my god. And then touching the
[11:20.840 -> 11:22.800] Oh my God. And then touching the man's feet.
[11:22.800 -> 11:25.520] That's true.
[11:25.520 -> 11:27.240] I've seen videos of that.
[11:27.240 -> 11:28.080] Oh man.
[11:29.000 -> 11:32.800] How many such crazy offers fell by the wayside
[11:32.800 -> 11:35.040] when someone just had to tell Mr. Subrata Roy Sahara
[11:35.040 -> 11:38.320] that, sir, that's not how Formula One works.
[11:38.320 -> 11:41.440] Is there any crazy story apart from this as well?
[11:41.440 -> 11:44.320] I mean, we've all heard about the flattening
[11:44.320 -> 11:46.840] of the side pods on this particular podcast
[11:46.840 -> 11:47.840] before.
[11:47.840 -> 11:52.000] And if you haven't folks, tune into some of our previous episodes, but surely it can't
[11:52.000 -> 11:53.800] be just two of these stories, right?
[11:53.800 -> 11:55.040] He's got to have more in the bag.
[11:55.040 -> 11:56.600] He's been on for a couple of years.
[11:56.600 -> 11:57.880] He's got to have more.
[11:57.880 -> 11:58.880] Oh yeah.
[11:58.880 -> 12:03.520] Look, that could potentially be yet another episode because there were so many stories
[12:03.520 -> 12:06.000] I remember during the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.
[12:06.000 -> 12:06.640] Oh, yeah, yeah.
[12:06.640 -> 12:09.320] It was, you know, whether it comes to,
[12:09.320 -> 12:13.120] you know, previously Ravi said how everything was bigger in size and scale.
[12:13.120 -> 12:17.360] You know, he was like a startup founder saying 100 users a second is not enough.
[12:17.360 -> 12:19.160] I need 100,000, you know.
[12:19.160 -> 12:22.000] But some of the other things he wanted to do,
[12:22.000 -> 12:27.440] which I was really excited about, was what would it take to do a road show
[12:27.440 -> 12:30.280] with an actual force India racing car
[12:30.280 -> 12:33.400] in some of the most major cities in Formula One?
[12:33.400 -> 12:36.760] And suddenly the conversation was not one or two,
[12:36.760 -> 12:39.400] the conversation was eight to 10 cities.
[12:39.400 -> 12:43.840] Okay, and then what would it take to make multiple show cars
[12:43.840 -> 12:46.660] and then park them in places of interest?
[12:46.660 -> 12:49.200] And while we are laughing about it now,
[12:49.200 -> 12:52.520] because we have the license to laugh,
[12:52.520 -> 12:55.160] some of these were actually very ambitious plans,
[12:55.160 -> 12:57.020] which just didn't go through
[12:57.020 -> 12:59.960] because the promoters had their own financial problems.
[12:59.960 -> 13:03.920] And if we go back to Adrian Newey, for example,
[13:03.920 -> 13:06.480] yes, he comes with his personal cost
[13:06.480 -> 13:08.600] or his salary that would be,
[13:08.600 -> 13:10.280] and then all the tools and the tech,
[13:10.280 -> 13:13.600] like Ravi said, that Force India would need to invest in.
[13:13.600 -> 13:16.240] But now cut to 2022, 2023,
[13:16.240 -> 13:18.800] when we are looking at, you know, Formula One,
[13:18.800 -> 13:20.280] Liberty Media specifically,
[13:20.280 -> 13:23.440] sort of trying to narrow the gap between the teams.
[13:23.440 -> 13:27.680] It should be us, you know, could the likes of Adrian Newey be interested
[13:27.680 -> 13:31.320] in another smaller team at some point of time in the future?
[13:31.320 -> 13:32.880] Purely because there are budget gaps,
[13:32.880 -> 13:34.680] there are financial regulations,
[13:34.680 -> 13:38.040] you know, they're trying very hard to have smaller teams,
[13:38.040 -> 13:40.640] smaller being more privateer teams,
[13:40.640 -> 13:43.320] actually perform well, punch way above their weight,
[13:43.320 -> 13:46.440] and could that be a challenge for Adrian Newey or
[13:46.440 -> 13:48.760] the other bigger brains in the business?
[13:48.760 -> 13:52.040] And that's probably what could also be in the future.
[13:52.040 -> 13:56.000] Of course, no crystal ball, but had there not been financial problems,
[13:56.000 -> 13:58.640] had Force India still been on the grid?
[13:58.640 -> 14:03.200] Like Ravi said, operating at $75 million or a little more than that.
[14:03.200 -> 14:06.240] Imagine how profitable the team and the operations could
[14:06.240 -> 14:12.800] have been in this generation. And then the ability that it would sort of allow the management to
[14:12.800 -> 14:18.320] actually invest in the talent and the tools that money could buy or the best talent that money
[14:18.320 -> 14:23.120] could buy. Which they are kind of doing right now with mixed results as well. And it's exciting times
[14:23.120 -> 14:28.960] to see how that team eventually progresses. But it reminds me of Newey joining Red Bull as well, because that's
[14:28.960 -> 14:34.080] what happens when you join a smaller team, as a designer, as a as a star designer who's won many
[14:34.080 -> 14:39.280] world championships, you expect the complete license to freedom, which is what Newey was given
[14:39.280 -> 14:46.320] eventually at Red Bull Racing. But that's Andrew Newey, I suppose we've got many, many, many other fun stories to talk
[14:46.320 -> 14:52.400] about, including the Indian GP and its title sponsor, Airtel. Now, for all of you who don't
[14:52.400 -> 14:57.600] know, Airtel is an Indian telecommunications network. I think the second biggest right now.
[14:57.600 -> 15:02.480] It's one of the leanest organizations that's going around in the telecom business, and it survived a
[15:02.480 -> 15:08.000] big industry change. So they're doing pretty well, but they were also the sponsors of the Indian GP in the first place. But
[15:08.000 -> 15:13.040] so I, I've just heard in the prep meeting for this particular episode, that they could have
[15:13.040 -> 15:19.280] been sponsoring the force India F1 team. Indeed, that is that really true? Oh, absolutely. I think,
[15:20.080 -> 15:25.720] you know, we engaged with them for a fairly long time. We met up with their folks.
[15:25.720 -> 15:31.680] And I think we had a really compelling proposition with some really innovative ideas on what
[15:31.680 -> 15:38.040] we could offer, Force India could offer Airtel, right.
[15:38.040 -> 15:42.560] And unfortunately, you know, finally, when it came down to the wire, they chose, you
[15:42.560 -> 15:45.480] know, to be the sponsor of the Indian Grand Prix
[15:45.480 -> 15:48.160] rather than a team, right?
[15:48.160 -> 15:51.280] And I think our logic to them,
[15:51.280 -> 15:53.160] besides of course what we offered,
[15:53.160 -> 15:54.840] was to say that it's, you know,
[15:54.840 -> 15:58.480] the sponsor of one race, one location,
[15:58.480 -> 16:01.280] was sponsoring a team over 20 odd races.
[16:01.280 -> 16:02.120] Exactly.
[16:02.120 -> 16:03.360] Across the world.
[16:03.360 -> 16:08.080] And especially for a company like Airtel, which operated
[16:08.080 -> 16:12.520] at that time, not just in India, but a few other locations, and perhaps may have had
[16:12.520 -> 16:18.520] ambitions of expanding, it made a lot of sense for them to travel with the team, so to say,
[16:18.520 -> 16:23.280] as opposed to localize all of their effort in one country, especially in one city.
[16:23.280 -> 16:26.320] And Airtel was and still, big in Africa as well.
[16:26.320 -> 16:27.320] Yes.
[16:27.320 -> 16:30.600] They are a global brand and it could have worked out, but they dropped off.
[16:30.600 -> 16:32.360] I mean, why did that happen?
[16:32.360 -> 16:35.000] Because it seems like such a fun proposition, right?
[16:35.000 -> 16:36.600] Sponsoring a Formula One team.
[16:36.600 -> 16:39.200] And at that time, they really did have high speed internet.
[16:39.200 -> 16:41.520] So it kind of makes sense, right?
[16:41.520 -> 16:43.080] Fast car, fast team, we have the best network.
[16:43.080 -> 16:46.360] It just, or am I just thinking too naively at this stage?
[16:47.580 -> 16:50.220] You know, I think what went through their minds,
[16:50.220 -> 16:53.500] much as we presented this as the proposition,
[16:53.500 -> 16:56.140] for them to own the Indian Grand Prix,
[16:56.140 -> 16:58.720] especially because, I mean, nobody knew at that time
[16:58.720 -> 17:02.540] that it would fall off the grid, you know, very soon.
[17:02.540 -> 17:03.740] So quickly.
[17:03.740 -> 17:05.660] But they felt, and I think they did a five
[17:05.660 -> 17:06.660] year deal.
[17:06.660 -> 17:07.660] That's correct.
[17:07.660 -> 17:08.660] Right.
[17:08.660 -> 17:13.800] They clearly felt that owning the Indian Grand Prix would have been a much more powerful
[17:13.800 -> 17:15.600] proposition for them.
[17:15.600 -> 17:16.600] Right.
[17:16.600 -> 17:22.040] Because their first ambition obviously was to dominate in India, right and engage with
[17:22.040 -> 17:29.200] their consumers in India, because that was the single largest market. Yeah. So So I would imagine that there would have been a very logical reason for them to
[17:29.200 -> 17:31.240] move that way.
[17:31.240 -> 17:35.920] Which makes me ask you Kunal, Airtel sponsoring the Indian Grand Prix, the Indian Grand Prix
[17:35.920 -> 17:40.000] being such a pivotal event for Force India, as we have discussed in the previous episodes
[17:40.000 -> 17:45.600] of the series, how involved were you as a team in the, let's say, the organizing and
[17:45.600 -> 17:50.200] the promoting of the race? Because had Force India not been there on the grid, I don't
[17:50.200 -> 17:55.300] really imagine the Indian Grand Prix happening at that time. So was there any support from
[17:55.300 -> 17:58.900] your end as a team? Or was there any involvement per se?
[17:58.900 -> 18:03.320] Not really, you know, because as a Formula One team, you of course have a home race and
[18:03.320 -> 18:06.760] then you have every other race, but eventually you just go racing
[18:06.760 -> 18:10.240] wherever the sport says you go racing, right?
[18:10.240 -> 18:13.020] So we did do a couple of site visits and stuff,
[18:13.020 -> 18:15.380] but that was more so for understanding
[18:15.380 -> 18:17.560] what would force India get on ground,
[18:17.560 -> 18:20.200] which was pretty much what everybody else got as well,
[18:20.200 -> 18:21.020] right?
[18:21.020 -> 18:27.280] But what we did do as help to JP as the promoters to Indian Grand Prix to Formula One is
[18:27.280 -> 18:34.800] we literally promoted the Indian Grand Prix as the place to be for that weekend when it actually
[18:34.800 -> 18:40.560] happened in October, right? And all our promotions that we've spoken about in the previous episodes,
[18:40.560 -> 18:47.440] like raise the flag and the likes, were all driving people to the Bhudd International
[18:47.440 -> 18:52.400] Circuit saying there's no other place to be but the Indian Grand Prix. So that was the way of
[18:52.400 -> 18:57.440] supporting it. I'm pretty confident we promoted the Indian Grand Prix more than the Indian Grand
[18:57.440 -> 19:07.000] Prix, more than Formula One, Tony Eccleston himself. So we've really put all our might there. And talking of Airtel, right,
[19:07.920 -> 19:09.640] to me, one of the other reasons
[19:09.640 -> 19:13.000] why the deal actually didn't happen was
[19:13.000 -> 19:15.840] we all know that the promoters had their issues, right?
[19:15.840 -> 19:18.000] And those issues were coming to the fore
[19:18.000 -> 19:21.060] even while the discussions were going on, right?
[19:21.060 -> 19:23.360] And then you have to remember in Force India,
[19:23.360 -> 19:29.360] there were actually two and then three parallel brands that you would end up associating with, right? So,
[19:29.360 -> 19:34.880] let's take a Red Bull as an example. When you associate with a Red Bull, you associate with
[19:34.880 -> 19:41.280] Red Bull, Red Bull Racing, and the Energy Drinks team. You do not associate with Dietrich
[19:41.280 -> 19:45.600] Mattesch or whatever his last name is. Matteschitz. Yes, okay.
[19:46.080 -> 19:49.200] Right. So, but in Force India, when you would associate with Force India,
[19:49.200 -> 19:50.800] you were associating with Force India,
[19:51.600 -> 19:53.920] and even more equal or powerful brand,
[19:53.920 -> 19:57.840] depending on your geography or where you were living or consuming content,
[19:57.840 -> 19:59.520] would be Vijay Mallya.
[19:59.520 -> 20:03.520] And then after that, even Subrata Roy Sahara, right?
[20:03.520 -> 20:07.600] So, brands like Airtel were always a little more wary
[20:07.600 -> 20:09.440] of making those associations.
[20:09.440 -> 20:11.840] Would they want an association with the Formula One team?
[20:11.840 -> 20:12.720] Yes.
[20:12.720 -> 20:14.920] Would they want an association with the two promoters
[20:14.920 -> 20:18.240] who anyway, you know, dubious stories were just coming out
[20:18.240 -> 20:19.440] at that point of time?
[20:19.440 -> 20:20.320] The answer was no.
[20:20.320 -> 20:22.200] And look who's actually outlasted.
[20:22.200 -> 20:24.200] You know, Airtel has outlasted all these three brands
[20:24.200 -> 20:29.600] that we sort of spoke of. Another important point here was Airtel eventually
[20:30.240 -> 20:36.160] sponsored a team as well. And that was Mercedes. So they had the Airtel Indian Grand Prix.
[20:37.280 -> 20:42.560] And for the Indian GP, they spent a little bit of money on Mercedes. Again, Mercedes,
[20:42.560 -> 20:46.200] great brand. And the cream on this was of
[20:46.200 -> 20:50.440] course Michael Schumacher because they actually had Michael Schumacher in one of their advertisements
[20:50.440 -> 20:55.280] as well, which again was all over the place in the build up to the Indian Grand Prix.
[20:55.280 -> 21:00.680] I remember that so vividly. It was a big two page advertisement on the front page of the
[21:00.680 -> 21:11.160] Times of India with Michael Schumacher at the boot circuit in his Mercedes. As a child, I was gobsmacked because never had I seen Formula One promoted so vividly
[21:11.160 -> 21:14.840] in such an open mass scale, even though we had had the Indian Grand Prix last year. So
[21:14.840 -> 21:20.120] that for me was crazy. Yeah, Michael, Michael on Times of India. That's another fact. We
[21:20.120 -> 21:27.360] were actually competing to have that advertisement as well. A full page ad, the most read English daily in the world ever.
[21:27.360 -> 21:29.360] Of course, the most read English daily in India,
[21:29.360 -> 21:30.600] the Times of India.
[21:30.600 -> 21:34.600] The only difference is that the 1st of October, 2012,
[21:34.600 -> 21:39.000] Kingfisher Airlines was grounded for unpaid dues.
[21:39.000 -> 21:41.840] And the media company said, you know, that ad is yours,
[21:41.840 -> 21:43.180] but you got to pay us upfront.
[21:43.180 -> 21:50.480] And now you know why we didn't have that ad. So we had the creative ready. If I can find it, I'm going to tweet it. But
[21:50.480 -> 21:54.080] anyway, the realities of the force India Formula One team.
[21:54.720 -> 21:59.760] But you but I'm not not you guys, but the owner did have a party with Enrique Iglesias the week
[21:59.760 -> 22:04.560] later. So not really sure about unpaid bills for times of India or anything. The money was there.
[22:06.540 -> 22:08.540] Was it? The money was there. some things. For some things, absolutely.
[22:10.180 -> 22:16.800] Well, actually folks I've got another fun topic to talk about which was force India going black in terms of the car livery.
[22:16.940 -> 22:21.220] Now if I remember correctly, sir, we had spoken about Mr. Malia's
[22:21.220 -> 22:26.000] I wouldn't call it antics, but his superstitions about not having a car
[22:26.000 -> 22:31.680] coloured black because it was unholy or something. I don't even know the exact term to use. I can
[22:31.680 -> 22:35.040] describe it better in Hindi, but in English, it's just really hard to put it. Superstition is,
[22:35.040 -> 22:40.400] I think the broader category we can put it into. But in 2014, the shirt I'm wearing right now,
[22:40.400 -> 22:50.320] of course, is kind of very representative of that. The 2014 Force India went to a black and orange livery, a very beautiful car that I absolutely loved the whole design but isn't
[22:50.320 -> 22:55.600] that contradictory to what Mr. Mallya had in plan earlier on? He just really didn't want to go for a
[22:55.600 -> 23:01.360] white car, black car didn't he? Indeed, in fact the entire deliberation that happened two years
[23:01.360 -> 23:05.500] before when the Sahara's first came in was not even on the color of the car.
[23:05.500 -> 23:06.880] I mean, we won't go so far.
[23:06.880 -> 23:09.600] It was actually on the font color, Kunal, if you remember.
[23:09.600 -> 23:10.600] Correct.
[23:10.600 -> 23:11.600] What?
[23:11.600 -> 23:12.600] It was on the font.
[23:12.600 -> 23:16.880] He didn't want the word, you know, Force India F1 Sahara to be in black.
[23:16.880 -> 23:17.880] What?
[23:17.880 -> 23:19.820] He was finally okay with a gray.
[23:19.820 -> 23:21.220] We finally settled on a gray.
[23:21.220 -> 23:26.040] So if you actually go through the Pantone shades, right, you will never find the black.
[23:26.040 -> 23:29.120] It's the darkest shade of grey
[23:29.120 -> 23:31.640] without actually being black.
[23:31.640 -> 23:33.800] So it's being as close to black,
[23:33.800 -> 23:36.320] but not being black, the Pantone shade.
[23:36.320 -> 23:37.840] But why?
[23:37.840 -> 23:39.120] Well, if you remember,
[23:39.120 -> 23:41.440] the color of the car actually changed to pink later.
[23:41.440 -> 23:43.840] So it was a sponsorship related thing.
[23:43.840 -> 23:49.740] We had a, you know, Reebok was one of the partners. And then as Ravi was saying, while we were preparing,
[23:49.740 -> 23:55.760] we had a we had a Spanish apparel company. Yes. Wasn't it? I can't recollect the name.
[23:55.760 -> 23:57.760] I'm just not able to remember. Too many brands.
[23:57.760 -> 24:01.000] I'm not sure if it is. Yours is Reebok.
[24:01.000 -> 24:04.160] Okay. The next one after this.
[24:04.160 -> 24:06.200] And that's why it turned black.
[24:06.200 -> 24:10.480] And then a couple of seasons later turned pink because of BWT and whatever.
[24:10.480 -> 24:11.800] So money talks.
[24:11.800 -> 24:18.080] And I mean, that was also when VJM had sort of, you know, left the country if I'm being
[24:18.080 -> 24:23.760] very polite about it or fleed the country if we want to sensationalize it.
[24:23.760 -> 24:26.400] So it was maybe an anti-India
[24:26.400 -> 24:28.560] sentiment. I don't know. I'm just asking the question.
[24:30.800 -> 24:35.840] Did you guys have access to him at that time? Did you know how infuriated, if he was, of course,
[24:35.840 -> 24:41.680] infuriated because of this decision, because if someone just has a certain dislike for a color
[24:41.680 -> 24:45.000] and his old car becomes black and orange, I don't think he'd
[24:45.000 -> 24:49.200] be very happy, no? Especially if it's someone as picky as VJM.
[24:49.200 -> 24:54.280] You know, you're right, but I think Kunal answered that question. If you're him and
[24:54.280 -> 25:01.160] you're chasing the money, then possibly you don't mind compromising on those superstitions.
[25:01.160 -> 25:04.680] If somebody is making you apparel or you know, you're getting money from a sponsor and he
[25:04.680 -> 25:06.240] or she is insisting on a certain color.
[25:06.720 -> 25:10.520] Yeah, what kind of a billionaire is he? I mean, I thought billionaires would be more picky than that.
[25:10.520 -> 25:15.120] I thought they'd sell off the whole team saying, nah, I just want my color and not the 25 million.
[25:15.120 -> 25:16.920] But okay, interesting about that.
[25:16.920 -> 25:24.000] But another fun fact about that very same car and that very same livery is that Royal Challengers Bangalore, the cricket team
[25:24.000 -> 25:28.400] we have of course mentioned earlier on this podcast, which was, of course, owned by Vijay Mallya,
[25:28.400 -> 25:34.880] also sponsored Force India in 2014. Now, in this very period of time, we had the Saba,
[25:35.520 -> 25:40.160] Saba Formula One team having a small football club called Chelsea and the logo on their car as well.
[25:41.840 -> 25:47.200] Logically speaking, it just doesn't make any sense to me, because essentially you're selling
[25:47.200 -> 25:52.160] the same product, slightly different markets. Yes, because of course, football and cricket have
[25:52.160 -> 25:56.720] a more Marcy appeal in their respective markets than Formula One, which was at least at that time
[25:56.720 -> 26:02.240] considered to be a very elite sport. But specifically for Force India and RCB, what was
[26:02.240 -> 26:05.360] there to gain? Why bother? So talking of Chelsea and Sauber and RCB and Force India and RCB, what was there to gain? Why bother?
[26:05.360 -> 26:09.640] So talking of Chelsea and Sauber and RCB and Force India,
[26:09.640 -> 26:12.080] these partnerships were back in time
[26:12.080 -> 26:14.040] in the Bernie Eccleston days, right?
[26:14.040 -> 26:17.720] Those are also times when getting sponsorships
[26:17.720 -> 26:20.240] globally across sport was extremely tough
[26:20.240 -> 26:21.960] because you were talking of seven,
[26:21.960 -> 26:26.400] eight figure sponsorships, which were tough to come by. They were in fact so many teams
[26:26.400 -> 26:29.440] without a title sponsor in that period.
[26:29.440 -> 26:32.520] So one of the reasons why a lot of brands globally
[26:32.520 -> 26:36.360] came together from different walks of sport
[26:36.360 -> 26:39.280] was to try and see if they could appeal a little more
[26:39.280 -> 26:43.240] with an elite while as well as a mass approach.
[26:43.240 -> 26:47.840] But that's not exactly why the RCB logo was on the
[26:47.840 -> 26:53.600] Force India car. And I'm sure Ravi can narrate it much better than I will.
[26:53.600 -> 27:00.000] Yeah. So, you know, if you look at most of the logos, and therefore the sponsors on the Force
[27:00.000 -> 27:07.920] India car, they're largely alcoholic beverages. From Vijay Mallya's
[27:07.920 -> 27:12.560] table of either United Spirits, which has spirits brands like Vladivar and White and Macay,
[27:13.200 -> 27:20.320] or Kingfisher beer. Right. And then therefore, he had a choice of various brands to pick from.
[27:21.200 -> 27:27.280] But there were some races, especially Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, where, you know, given
[27:27.280 -> 27:34.520] the local regulations, we could not put alcohol brands either on the car or on, you know,
[27:34.520 -> 27:40.300] the team kits. So therefore, typically during those times, we redesigned both the livery
[27:40.300 -> 27:47.760] of the car. We redesigned the livery of the car as well as the entire team kit,
[27:47.760 -> 27:50.920] you know, choosing non Alcobev logos.
[27:50.920 -> 27:56.280] And I think Royal Challenges Bangalore kind of act as a very good surrogate marketing
[27:56.280 -> 28:00.160] approach because Royal Challenge is a very popular drink here in India.
[28:00.160 -> 28:01.160] Absolutely.
[28:01.160 -> 28:03.800] Was that the whole reason why the team was called Royal Challenges Bangalore in the first
[28:03.800 -> 28:04.800] place?
[28:04.800 -> 28:05.800] Indeed, absolutely. And it worked over cricket, it worked in Formula One. Yeah, it's a great way to promote a drink. Absolutely. Was that the whole reason why the team was called Royal Challenges Bangalore in the first place? Indeed.
[28:05.800 -> 28:06.800] Absolutely.
[28:06.800 -> 28:07.800] And it worked over cricket.
[28:07.800 -> 28:08.800] It worked in Formula One.
[28:08.800 -> 28:09.800] Yeah, it's a great way to promote a drink.
[28:09.800 -> 28:12.840] And then just like Kingfisher Airlines worked for Kingfisher Beer.
[28:12.840 -> 28:13.840] Exactly.
[28:13.840 -> 28:14.840] Yeah.
[28:14.840 -> 28:15.840] Nobody asked.
[28:15.840 -> 28:19.200] But hey, how tricky was it actually managing out the Gulf markets?
[28:19.200 -> 28:25.600] Because I can imagine that means change deliveries, changed uniforms for all the crew members,
[28:25.600 -> 28:26.880] change sponsor banners,
[28:26.880 -> 28:29.320] and changed team garages as well.
[28:29.320 -> 28:30.760] That must be crazy to adapt to.
[28:30.760 -> 28:34.960] Yes, and before we actually go into how crazy it was,
[28:34.960 -> 28:39.960] hats off to VJM for being such a fantastic brand builder.
[28:40.040 -> 28:41.560] You know, he was, like Ravi said,
[28:41.560 -> 28:43.640] Kingfisher Airlines for Kingfisher Beer
[28:43.640 -> 28:46.800] and Royal Challenge for Royal Challengers Bangalore and so on.
[28:47.240 -> 28:50.480] So he could play around and build these brands as he wanted to,
[28:50.480 -> 28:53.160] while also self-branding himself as, you know,
[28:53.480 -> 28:57.600] self-made billionaire India's Richard Branson, whatever, you know, all the,
[28:57.640 -> 29:01.440] all the tags that sort of came with, came with it. Also King of Good Times,
[29:01.440 -> 29:03.360] which then became Emperor of Good Times.
[29:03.400 -> 29:11.360] I don't know how that promotion happened. It somehow happened. Snoop, Dr. Snoop lines. Has Kanye West become
[29:11.360 -> 29:16.280] Kanye East? I don't know. But I have an explanation for the Emperor of Good Times.
[29:16.280 -> 29:20.600] There you go. Yeah, we will come to that. But you were saying? So when it came to these
[29:20.600 -> 29:28.300] gulf markets, they were actually the worst times to actually be people who were looking after sponsor logos
[29:28.300 -> 29:29.820] and liveries and stuff.
[29:29.820 -> 29:31.380] Because on one hand,
[29:31.380 -> 29:33.980] you knew what was actually going to go on the car.
[29:33.980 -> 29:36.140] Because hey, it's, you know, you've done it one race
[29:36.140 -> 29:38.100] and then you just do it every other race.
[29:38.100 -> 29:42.060] But you still needed to get it approved by him.
[29:42.060 -> 29:44.380] And the, you know, the race team,
[29:44.380 -> 29:45.120] the mechanics,
[29:45.120 -> 29:47.480] would need an approval three months before.
[29:47.480 -> 29:50.080] And VJM's approval could come anything
[29:50.080 -> 29:52.560] from three days or three hours before the cars
[29:52.560 -> 29:54.080] are coming out on track.
[29:54.080 -> 29:56.720] So there were always backup logos available
[29:56.720 -> 29:57.880] in case he changes.
[29:57.880 -> 29:59.760] How big a logo should be, should.
[29:59.760 -> 30:01.520] So there could be that he approves a logo,
[30:01.520 -> 30:04.680] but hey, just in a different place on the car and the likes.
[30:04.680 -> 30:06.000] And that was always tough.
[30:06.000 -> 30:10.240] And that caught us out at one race in Abu Dhabi, right?
[30:10.240 -> 30:11.960] This got me out specifically.
[30:11.960 -> 30:14.480] So we all landed up with alcohol kits
[30:14.480 -> 30:17.400] because, hey, Reebok couldn't sort of, you know,
[30:17.400 -> 30:20.520] turn around in the time that we gave them.
[30:20.520 -> 30:23.400] And Andy Stevenson was furious saying,
[30:23.400 -> 30:25.760] oh my God, you know, we are Formula One team,
[30:25.760 -> 30:27.520] we can't be walking around with patches
[30:27.520 -> 30:29.680] because we all had white tape,
[30:29.680 -> 30:32.280] which we put on all the alcohol brands.
[30:32.280 -> 30:36.220] And then eventually we managed to get some kits
[30:36.220 -> 30:39.440] and some stuff for the race team and that got solved.
[30:39.440 -> 30:42.880] But the biggest challenge was for Deepika Padukone,
[30:42.880 -> 30:44.280] who was actually one of the ambassadors
[30:44.280 -> 30:45.460] of Kingfisher Airlines,
[30:45.460 -> 30:47.580] and hence was making an appearance
[30:47.580 -> 30:49.840] for the Force India Formula One team,
[30:49.840 -> 30:53.060] among other personal reasons why she came as well, right?
[30:53.060 -> 30:56.560] And Deepika actually ended up with the alcohol livery
[30:56.560 -> 30:58.980] because there was a T-shirt made exactly for her size
[30:58.980 -> 31:01.060] because she was a supermodel,
[31:01.060 -> 31:02.360] a very promising,
[31:02.360 -> 31:05.200] or one of the most established actresses at that time, also a
[31:05.200 -> 31:11.120] very humble human being had some great interactions with her. And suddenly she walks into the paddock
[31:11.120 -> 31:17.040] with all the alcohol livery on her. And then I remember just running to her saying, we need you
[31:17.040 -> 31:21.920] to change and she's like, but that's not in my size. And I said, Oh, my goodness. And then I
[31:21.920 -> 31:26.280] was busy just putting white tape everywhere on her T-shirt wherever I had to.
[31:26.280 -> 31:28.580] So some really fun times,
[31:28.580 -> 31:30.460] which you just had to get your hands dirty
[31:30.460 -> 31:33.620] and sort of live with things as they came.
[31:33.620 -> 31:36.320] Wowee, even she might be thinking,
[31:36.320 -> 31:38.120] huh, really?
[31:38.120 -> 31:39.780] Do we have to work patches now?
[31:39.780 -> 31:42.000] But it's crazy how it panned out at the end.
[31:42.000 -> 31:45.360] I mean, I just would not expect something quite like that.
[31:45.360 -> 31:47.960] But yeah, I guess we've heard about VJM
[31:47.960 -> 31:50.640] and how his approvals always come at the last minute, right?
[31:50.640 -> 31:54.000] We had that story on the last episode of this podcast
[31:54.000 -> 31:55.600] where we are discussing car launches.
[31:55.600 -> 31:57.760] And you guys just said that it nearly happened,
[31:57.760 -> 31:59.720] what, three hours before the launch actually came up?
[31:59.720 -> 32:00.720] So yeah.
[32:00.720 -> 32:03.280] But we have to go to Ravi, emperor of good times.
[32:03.280 -> 32:05.280] Emperor of good times, yes.
[32:05.280 -> 32:09.120] So that actually came from, that's a very interesting story.
[32:09.120 -> 32:12.720] You know, we had Kingfisher beer, which is Kingfisher premium.
[32:12.720 -> 32:17.200] And you know, by then a lot of foreign beers had come in, Carlsberg, Bud and so on and
[32:17.200 -> 32:18.240] so forth.
[32:18.240 -> 32:26.000] So and we were working on Kingfisher Ultra, which would be an ultra premium beer. And then when we were working on the marketing campaign,
[32:27.080 -> 32:30.720] you know, we said if Kingfisher beer
[32:30.720 -> 32:32.600] is the king of good times,
[32:32.600 -> 32:35.440] then how do we position Kingfisher Ultra,
[32:35.440 -> 32:38.480] which is supposed to be several notches above.
[32:38.480 -> 32:43.280] And that's where, you know, between us and JWT, our agency,
[32:43.280 -> 32:47.040] we came up with the emperor of good times.
[32:47.040 -> 32:51.720] And not only that, you know, we said, okay, so what's the ad campaign going to be?
[32:51.720 -> 32:54.600] And I, we never released that and we changed the campaign.
[32:54.600 -> 32:59.680] But the first campaign that JWT designed for us was with Vijay Mallya as the face of King
[32:59.680 -> 33:01.600] Fisher Ultra.
[33:01.600 -> 33:06.800] And then therefore, by logically, he became the emperor of good times as well.
[33:06.800 -> 33:12.960] So we had all these layouts with the Kingfisher ultra and you know, VJM on his yacht here
[33:12.960 -> 33:17.200] and there and with, you know, Kingfisher ultra, the emperor of good times.
[33:17.200 -> 33:21.720] Who else could it be? You just can't, you just don't need to roam in a brand ambassador
[33:21.720 -> 33:25.240] for Kingfisher as well, because you've got VJM himself.
[33:25.240 -> 33:27.800] That's just like the living dream for everybody.
[33:27.800 -> 33:33.040] And speaking of VJM, he also started his own reality show for Force India.
[33:33.040 -> 33:34.560] I was unaware.
[33:34.560 -> 33:37.880] I really didn't know about this, probably because I didn't consume those particular
[33:37.880 -> 33:40.600] channels but what's up with Speed Divas?
[33:40.600 -> 33:42.920] I've just ended up hearing about it for the first time.
[33:42.920 -> 33:49.000] Oh yes, that's that's a very interesting story and that again all credit to Vijay Mallya for
[33:49.000 -> 33:51.840] having a great marketing mind.
[33:51.840 -> 33:55.800] And I'm reasonably certain he drew inspiration from his own initiative at Kingfisher Beer
[33:55.800 -> 33:57.640] with the Kingfisher Calendar Girls.
[33:57.640 -> 34:02.660] If you look at when he entered the world of F1 with the Force India team, but of course
[34:02.660 -> 34:09.040] he had to make that car perform, which he did reasonably successfully making it the best of the rest. Because that was table stakes,
[34:09.040 -> 34:15.500] right? But he also what, but F1 is also about glamour. And how could he build a brand, which
[34:15.500 -> 34:22.240] he was always good at, with Force India. And that's when he came up with the idea of having
[34:22.240 -> 34:27.600] speed divas, right? The Force India speed divas who are associated with the brand,
[34:27.600 -> 34:30.680] as opposed to just having glamour out there.
[34:30.680 -> 34:35.640] And what was done was to create a reality show in association
[34:35.640 -> 34:38.600] with MTV at that time, right, where there was
[34:38.600 -> 34:41.720] a hunt for these speed divas.
[34:41.720 -> 34:46.280] And then we selected four girls who then travelled along. There was a uniform for
[34:46.280 -> 34:48.640] them, a kit. They were trained and then they
[34:48.640 -> 34:51.680] travelled around to select races. They were
[34:51.680 -> 34:55.560] there, you know, for the garage tours and for a
[34:55.560 -> 34:59.240] team which was relatively unknown. It was
[34:59.240 -> 35:02.160] amazing how we managed to draw attention to
[35:02.160 -> 35:04.760] ourselves, right? Which would have been
[35:04.760 -> 35:05.680] unthinkable.
[35:05.680 -> 35:11.520] And then it was so successful that we then went and did a Kunal and I did a season two,
[35:11.520 -> 35:15.720] this time with NDTV Good Times, which is a partner TV channel.
[35:15.720 -> 35:16.720] Exactly.
[35:16.720 -> 35:21.960] I really just want to know the logic of calendars in the first place, but I suppose that's a
[35:21.960 -> 35:27.280] topic for some other day when we have a little more time. but I want to talk to you about your favorite Force India memories.
[35:27.280 -> 35:29.280] Kunal, I'll firstly go with you on this one.
[35:29.440 -> 35:31.080] Lot of years spent at Force India.
[35:31.080 -> 35:36.320] What really pops up on your mind as one of your favorite memories from that time there? Apart from all the
[35:36.600 -> 35:38.040] incredible ones you've shared already.
[35:38.040 -> 35:42.200] So I'm gonna add to the speed the worst thing, right? And how did we gauge that it's
[35:42.560 -> 35:44.560] successful or it's working for us, right?
[35:44.720 -> 35:45.040] So typically when you go to a race and you know the worst thing, right? And how did we gauge that it's successful or it's working for us, right?
[35:45.040 -> 35:46.920] So typically when you go to a race
[35:46.920 -> 35:48.680] and there are these open days
[35:48.680 -> 35:50.840] when the pit lane is open for everybody
[35:50.840 -> 35:55.840] and Ferrari by default would be the most crowded team.
[35:55.960 -> 35:58.600] You would not be able to find space to stand
[35:58.600 -> 36:02.140] even 10 rows after the pit lane is sort of guarded off.
[36:02.140 -> 36:05.880] You know, the channel markers that you see at airports, they sort of use that to sort of shut the pit lane is sort of guarded off, you know, those, the channel markers that you see at airports,
[36:05.880 -> 36:09.120] they sort of use that to sort of shut the pit lane, right?
[36:09.120 -> 36:11.080] After a point it became Ferrari,
[36:11.080 -> 36:13.600] Red Bull, Mercedes and the likes, right?
[36:13.600 -> 36:18.600] And the fourth most crowded team ended up being Force India,
[36:18.680 -> 36:22.320] just because people were so eager to go take selfies
[36:22.320 -> 36:24.920] with the speed divas, get a photo and the likes.
[36:24.920 -> 36:26.960] And for a brand that,
[36:26.960 -> 36:30.480] for all the brands that he built also were,
[36:30.480 -> 36:31.960] one of the pillars were glamor
[36:31.960 -> 36:33.640] and this did really well for the team.
[36:33.640 -> 36:35.560] So a lot of social conversations
[36:35.560 -> 36:37.300] that started happening for the team.
[36:37.300 -> 36:40.320] And these were early days for social media as well, right?
[36:40.320 -> 36:42.840] But coming to some of my favorite memories,
[36:42.840 -> 36:45.580] and I have some really fascinating ones,
[36:45.580 -> 36:48.440] you know, one of them stands out is Nico Hulkenberg.
[36:48.440 -> 36:50.380] You know, he was a test driver with the team.
[36:50.380 -> 36:52.600] He traveled to India as the face of
[36:52.600 -> 36:54.320] the one from a billion hunt.
[36:54.320 -> 36:58.160] And I got to ride in a twin seater go-kart
[36:58.160 -> 37:01.560] with him at the circuit in Goa.
[37:01.560 -> 37:04.760] And that was the year when Robert Kubica had his accident.
[37:04.760 -> 37:06.760] And some of the other regular drivers turned around
[37:06.760 -> 37:09.160] and said, no, no, no, we're not sitting in a go-kart.
[37:09.160 -> 37:12.120] And Nico turned around and said, where's my helmet, right?
[37:12.120 -> 37:15.720] So I was doing several laps with him, great fun.
[37:15.720 -> 37:18.280] And we built a bond over those couple of years
[37:18.280 -> 37:20.520] where he was trusting me a lot with a lot of things
[37:20.520 -> 37:22.400] and activities we were doing in India.
[37:23.320 -> 37:25.840] I actually even had, you know,
[37:27.560 -> 37:30.000] one of the British Grand Prix's, Nico decided to take a scooter and say,
[37:30.000 -> 37:31.280] hey, why don't you hop back?
[37:31.280 -> 37:34.880] And then we rode from the factory to the paddock.
[37:34.880 -> 37:36.920] And you know, when I look back, I'm like, oh my God,
[37:36.920 -> 37:40.720] I was actually with a Formula One driver, a pillion,
[37:40.720 -> 37:42.800] you know, and then we did a Mercedes track day
[37:42.800 -> 37:44.960] at the Booth International Circuit.
[37:44.960 -> 37:49.960] Paul Diresta drove all of us along with Adrian Sutil
[37:50.100 -> 37:53.220] on the circuit in one of the Mercedes road cars.
[37:53.220 -> 37:55.720] And Paul Diresta, yeah, lots of memories that I will,
[37:55.720 -> 37:57.220] that I have with him, not so good,
[37:57.220 -> 37:59.100] but I'm going to leave that aside.
[37:59.100 -> 38:01.700] Let's just say he wasn't the most comfortable
[38:01.700 -> 38:04.140] being in India, even though he was racing
[38:04.140 -> 38:05.580] for a Force India team.
[38:05.580 -> 38:08.640] And then, you know, just to sum it up, Adrian Sutil,
[38:08.640 -> 38:10.480] we've said some really great things about him
[38:10.480 -> 38:14.600] as a musician and the likes in the previous episode.
[38:14.600 -> 38:16.880] Two things that really stood out about him,
[38:16.880 -> 38:20.600] especially Sutil Gate, as we know it, right?
[38:20.600 -> 38:22.720] He was dropped by the team for a year,
[38:22.720 -> 38:26.240] and then he came back and he met me one of the races and he said,
[38:26.240 -> 38:32.640] so, same shit, different driver. And you realize that that's literally what you end up doing, right?
[38:32.640 -> 38:38.320] So some fantastic memories working with great teams, great agencies.
[38:38.320 -> 38:43.840] And, you know, it's like Ravi and I haven't worked together since seven years, but it's very familial
[38:43.840 -> 38:49.320] because we went through a lot of hardships together. We built a lot of things together, having literally no money
[38:49.320 -> 38:53.940] in the in the banks or for the for the brands, but great, great memories. Hopefully we have
[38:53.940 -> 38:57.320] more to share in the episodes to come if we do more.
[38:57.320 -> 39:00.640] I suppose there are going to be a few but what about you say if you just had to sum
[39:00.640 -> 39:01.760] up some of your best memories?
[39:01.760 -> 39:12.400] Oh, I think the first and most lasting is Adrian Sutil playing the piano in Mumbai. Blue Frog was it? Yeah. And I think over four or five years,
[39:12.400 -> 39:18.160] you know, arranging for the season opening parties in Monaco would possibly be another
[39:18.160 -> 39:23.440] lasting memory. Yes, absolutely. Crazy, crazy times. But let's hope we have
[39:23.440 -> 39:25.040] more chances to record episodes
[39:25.040 -> 39:29.600] like this one because there are more stories. We can tell that if we scratch the surface
[39:29.600 -> 39:34.320] we are going to get some more. Ha! Crazy, isn't it? These are just the kind of insights
[39:34.320 -> 39:38.760] that we're going to have on the Force India series and this one is only the first one
[39:38.760 -> 39:43.600] out of a four-part series. So, if you want more folks, don't forget to subscribe to the
[39:43.600 -> 39:49.640] podcast because we've got tons of fun episodes and fun guests that are also going to be a part of the podcast
[39:49.640 -> 39:53.960] in the off season. So how do you keep up to date with us? You can check out our social
[39:53.960 -> 39:57.920] media handles by clicking on the link in the description below to find out all the new
[39:57.920 -> 40:03.040] episodes that are going to come up on the InsideLineF1 podcast and also all the fun
[40:03.040 -> 40:05.240] events that we're going to do in the winter as well.
[40:05.240 -> 40:08.880] So I hope that you enjoyed listening to this one and I hope that you'll be back for the
[40:08.880 -> 40:11.880] other three episodes of the Force India series among other things.
[40:11.880 -> None] Thank you for listening folks. Have a good time. you