World’s fifth largest telecom firm Bharti Airtel on Thursday vroomed in as the title

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partner for Formula One’s (F1) India foray, thereby joining the likes of SingTel (Singapore) and Allianz Life (Korea), who currently patronage the highest class single seater auto racing in some Asian countries.

F1 enjoys the cult following of a whopping 500 million plus fans including some in India. By virtue of backing the title, the 60-lap race to be hosted on Buddh International Circuit (Noida) in October, has been named as Airtel Grand Prix of India.

Formula One cars are considered the fastest circuit-racing cars in the world with speeds of up to 360 kmph. Presently, the RBR-Renault team is leading the constructor standings in 12-team races, followed by McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari in the no.2 and 3 spots.

With nearly half of India under the median age of 25, Bharti Airtel is betting big on connecting with the youth through this association. The 80-year old Bernard Charles “Bernie” Ecclestone, president and CEO of Formula One Management said he expects motor racing to pick up in 2-3 years’ time in India, though he does not see it matching the hype generated by cricket any time soon.

Asked why Airtel was chosen, he said: “They want to connect with the youth. The F-1 in India also wants to do the same.” He added: “We got to remember that India is one of the top-five most important countries in the world today. So, for us, it’s extremely important to be in India as much as any other country in the world. So when I came here first, I was a bit surprised having not been in India before,” added the billionaire.

World over, F1 races are associated with economic activity running into millions of dollars. For example, they lead to over a billion of US dollars being generated in Australia, Canada and the UK. In Malaysia and Bahrain, the first F1 races saw around $ 300 million of economic activity being generated, said Bharti Airtel officials.

While Bharti did not disclose the amount it paid for the title sponsorship in the ‘lifetime’ contract, marketing and sports management experts requesting anonymity suggested a price of $ 5 - 15 million every year. Both parties said that there is no fixed tenure for the contract, with the F1 chief adding that it would run “forever, until we stop”.

Speaking on value of being the title sponsor, Sanjay Kapoor, CEO - India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel, said: “Such events do not come cheap. However, we see value in our investment.” Both Bharti and Formula One Management said that globally about 30 per cent of the audiences in F1 races travel to watch the event.

Bharti that dropped out of Championship League Twenty20 as title sponsor, said it wants to build a portfolio of brand engagements with customers.