Sahara Group Turn out to be co-owner of Force India

Leading sports promoter Sahara India Pariwar announced on Wednesday that it is to buy a 42.5 percent stake in Force India, investing approximately $100 million in the team. Following the deal, team principal and managing director Dr Vijay Mallya will retain an equal 42.5 percent share, with the remaining 15 percent equity kept by the Mol family.

India is reaching new heights in all spheres, including sports, said Subrata Roy Sahara, managing worker and chairman of Sahara India Pariwar. Formula One has always remained a bastion of the western world. The advent of India in this exciting sport has remained a matter of pride for all our countrymen.

Sahara’s partnership with Force India is expected to provide an opportunity for the team to further invest in cutting-edge technology to improve their performance. Sahara has many diverse interests including financial services, real estate, media, IT and tourism.

It has indeed been a matter of pride for me to put India on the F1 map with Force India and raise the performance of the team to its current levels, added Mallya. The Sahara Group has played a very important role in the development of sport in the country and is an ideal partner to take the Force India F1 Team to greater success in the Formula One world championship.

The Mallya-Mol consortium became the former Jordan team’s third owner in just three years when they bought it back in 2007. The Midland group had taken over in 2005, before selling out to sports car makers Spyker late in 2006.Force India is currently sixth in the 2011 constructors’ standings with 48 world championship points.

2011 -- Formula One Calendar

2011 Formula One Calendar

Bahrain BIC	March 11-13
Australian Albert Park	March 25-27
Malaysian Sepang	April 8-10
Chinese Shanghai	April 15-17
Turkish Istanbul	May 6-8
Spanish Catalunya	May 20-22
Monaco	May 26-29
Canadian Gilles Villeneuve	June 10-12
European Spain	June 24-26
British Silverstone	July 8-10
German Nürburgring	July 22-24
Hungarian Hungaroring	July 29-31
Belgian Spa	August 26-28
Italian Monza	September 9-11
Singapore	September 23-25
Japanese Suzuka	October 7-9
Korean KIC	October 14-16
Indian Noida	October 28-30
Abu Dhabi Yas Marina	November 11-13
Brazilian Interlagos	November 25-27

Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button reject to engrave off season

The Spaniard took a fighting second place to McLaren's Jenson Button in Japan as Red Bull's Vettel wrapped up the championship with third place. But Alonso said, we yet have a lot of motivation. Why not fight for victory in one of the remaining races? Button's victory in Suzuka his third of the season was not enough to deny Vettel a second successive drivers' title, but it does take him eight points clear of Alonso in the race for second in the championship. 

The win came as a result of a marked upturn in form for McLaren, who were enjoying the benefit of a new rear wing introduced two weeks ago in Singapore, where Button was second to Vettel.

And Alonso, whose fantastic drive to secure second place in Suzuka was almost forgotten among the post-race furore surrounding Vettel, was in defiant mood when asked how he felt about Vettel, aged 24 years and 98 days, supplanting him as the sport's youngest two-time title winner.

First woman of any Formula 1 group

Being addressed as 'Frau Kaltenborn' at company assembly for Dehradun-born Monisha might have been like a space walk. After all as a child, born into relatives running a two-wheeler dealership, she dreamt of becoming an astronaut.

The wheels of destiny, however, took her to the fast-track on the ground - in the 'boys club' of Formula 1 racing. Amidst saga of Indians making it big on a global platform, Monisha Kaltenborn has broken the glass ceiling in an unconventional domain to develop into the first ever woman CEO of any Formula One team. She heads Team Sauber Ferrari.

Yet, Monisha, who abhorrence’s to drive with her eyes on the rear - view mirror - though she was determined to compete in the Paris-Dakar Rally someday -, drove with gusto. Honing her "petrolhead" qualities, she could, perhaps, vision across the windscreen, the milestone that lay faraway.