Indian Grand Prix Secure Bharti Airtel as Title Sponsors

August 19, 2011

The inaugural Indian Formula One Grand Prix is to be sponsored by Bharti Airtel, who have secured title sponsorship of the race which takes place on October 30.

The Airtel Grand Prix of India will be the first Grand Prix hosted in the country.

Sanjay Kapoor, CEO for Bharti Airtel’s India and South Asia operations, said :”Right through its growth path, Airtel has been associated with speed, performance, calculated risks and excitement, the very words that spring to mind when you think of Formula One. Hence, it is only natural that Airtel and Formula One together bring to life the dreams of millions of young and passionate sports enthusiasts in India, giving them an opportunity of a lifetime to watch the very first Airtel Grand Prix of India in person.”

Formula One rights holder Bernie Ecclestone added: “We are very good partners as we both project the same forward thinking…F1 is obviously new to India. We will never catch cricket, I’m quite sure about that, but we have got to try our best to do that. I’m sure eventually we will get very close. We have got to remember that India is one of the top five most important countries in the world so it’s extremely important to be in India.”

Bharti Airtel recently ended its US$8million per year sponsorship of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket competition early after citing a lack of interest in the competition.