Mercedes-Benz to set up F1 driving academy at Buddh Circuit

NEW DELHI: Delhi is all set to get its first Formula One driving academy by the end of this year at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. What adds to the news is that the legendary Michael Schumacher might even come to guide racing enthusiasts in the near future.
Mercedes-Benz India, who signed up as the automotive partner of the Buddh International Circuit, will be setting up a Performance Driving Academy in the Capital in association with Jaypee Sports International Limited (JPSI), the owners of the Circuit.
"The academy will be an effort to tap into the popularity of motorsports in this country. It will offer structured training imparted by professional racing drivers. Although it will be difficult to beat the popularity of cricket but I am sure it will definitely attract a lot of people," Mercedes-Benz India CEO Peter Honegg told TOI on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday.
Mercedes GP is one of the ten teams competing in the 2011 season while the company is also the engine supplier for McLaren and Force India teams. Seven-time world champion Schumacher is part of the Mercedes GP roster.
"F1 drivers have a very busy schedule over a season. We'll definitely try and bring them over during the off-season. Schumacher has a huge fan base all around the world and I am sure youngsters will definitely benefit from his experience," Honegg added.
The academy will have a five-step training process at the culmination of which the drivers will be taken to Germany at Mercedes' approved track for additional training. "We are planning to get the academy off the block by the end of December or early January. It is difficult to predict when the first drivers will be trained enough to be taken to Europe.
"We're planning at having classes at least one weekend a month once the academy starts. We will begin with the basics to start with," JPSI Sports managing director and CEO Sameer Gaur said.
For Mercedes, this will just be the third Performance Driving Academy outside the Germany - the other two being in China and the United States. "We are planning to start off slowly. But within the next couple of years we can have drivers like Schumacher and Nico Rosberg coming down regularly to work with the enthusiasts in the academy," Honegg said.
Earlier, Force India had also announced the launch of their F1 Academy to nurture talent. "The immediate necessity was the infrastructure and now that we have that the potential to develop the sport is tremendous. We hope that we can play a small role in getting more Indian drivers to F1," the Mercedes CEO added.