Formula 1 India: Sebastian Vettel wins inaugural Indian Grand Prix

New Delhi: Spectacular motor racing action thrilled a sell-out crowd of 95,000 people at Greater Noida's Buddh International Circuit on Sunday as Germany's Sebastian Vettel remained unbeatable in his Red Bull for the 11th time this season. McLaren's Jenson Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso followed him to the finish line, where Sachin Tendulkar waved the chequered flag. Huge cheers rose from the stands after the national anthem-the first big international sporting event after the Commonwealth Games fiasco had somewhat salvaged the country's reputation as an executer of big events. "This is a big day for India," Tendulkar told ET as he came out of the pit lane after the chequered flag along with wife Anjali and his children. "It's just wonderful, wonderful, to be here. It was a great race and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it," he said. Tendulkar was seen in the morning chatting with Michael Schumacher. F1 Grand Prix: India's date with Hotwheels Force India's Adrian Sutil finished ninth and Hispania Racing's Narain Karthikeyan finished 17th, as a huge gathering of celebrities from films, cricket, and business, watched with awe. The organisers came in for praise all around as fans enjoyed a smoothly organized event put together with little state interference or support. Speaking at the post-race press conference, Jenson Button paid effusive complements to the circuit. "I think we need to say a big congratulations to the Indian people for their efforts in building this circuit. It is a very special circuit and I really, really enjoyed driving around here," the former world champion said. The paddock club and the grandstands were swarming with celebrities on Sunday. British comedian Rowan 'Mr Bean' Atkinson was at his entertaining best when his comic, Mr Bean-esque reaction to Lewis Hamilton's crash with Felipe Massa was shown on television. He was here this weekend as a guest of Team McLaren and within minutes of the footage being shown, Atkinson and the Hamilton-Massa crash became global trending topics on Twitter. Virgin Group boss Richard Branson was seen in the paddock pep-talking the Virgin team. Indian cricketers Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina were present, while from Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Gulshan Grover and Ritesh Deshmukh among others, watched. "Very excited. Everything is really amazing here. We are all rooting for Force India," Shah Rukh Khan told ET, as he made his way to the Force India lounge to watch the race along with Tendulkar, Vijay Mallya and others. For fans, there was much racing action in the offing. Ferrari's Massa and Mclaren's Hamilton crashed yet again, for the seventh time this season, for which the Brazilian received a drive-through penalty from the race stewards. "Felipe just turned in on me, he didn't give me any space," Hamilton shouted over the team radio. "It's the umpteenth time that Hamilton runs into me this year and it seems it's some sort of fatal attraction," Massa said, adding that he disagreed with the stewards' decision to penalize him. Narain Karthikeyan said it was a very satisfying race for him. "It was very special to drive my first grand prix in front of the home crowd and I managed better-than-expected results. It was satisfying to beat my teammate and a Lotus," the HRT racer, who finished 17th, said. On Sunday morning, the highways from Delhi to the race track were clogged as tens of thousands of fans set out to get their first real taste of Formula One racing. Some spent as much as four hours on the roads, while those who started earlier in the day had a smoother time negotiating traffic. But in the end, as they watched a terrific race and a victory lap by Vettel who waved at everyone from his car, only the good memories remained. Prakash Jagannathan, a 32-year-old finance professional with Credit Suisse in Pune, who has watched grand prix at Sepang and Silverstone, said he found the experience to be better than the Malaysian and British circuits. "Absolute kudos to the organizers. It's much better than Sepang and Silverstone. We should all be proud. Some people call it an elitist sport. But it's not. All the people in the stands were ordinary people who wanted to enjoy the race and feel proud about this happening in our country. The race was very good, the tarmac was good. I had a fantastic time as a racing fan. The stands were jam packed," he said. Jaiprakash Gaur, the 84-year-old chairman of Jaypee Group, seemed overwhelmed as he came out after the chequered flag with Tendulkar. "Bahut badhiya, bahut badhiya," he repeated, when asked if he thought everything went well. If the reactions of fans and the visiting racing teams are anything to go by, Gaur has delivered on his promise. Dust was the only major complaint through the racing weekend, and everyone from the Formula One Management and the teams pointed out that for the first year of the track, the organizers had achieved a great level of finish to the infrastructure. The two tragic deaths in motorsports this weekend cast a pall of gloom over the event. The stadium observed a minute of silence ahead of the race and several drivers spoke about the unfortunate events. That and the while Indian experience turned Vettel quite philosophical during his postrace interview. Talking about the first race in India and his experience of the people here, the young champion said: "They enjoy life and in the end that is what it is all about. If your life comes to an end, it is more the thoughts, the emotions, the friends, the friendships you take with you rather than whatever you have in your bank account. Even the people have so little here I think in a way they are much richer than a lot of people back in Europe so there is a lot we can learn and it is a great race, great event." In less than an hour after the race was over, the teams had started packing from the paddock. By evening, the pit garages that were the centre of action over the race weekend, had almost fully been packed and loaded. In under two weeks, they will be reassembled at the San Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, when the champions of speed will once again match skills for the penultimate race of a season dominated by the Red Bulls. If Vettel wins both the remaining races, he will match Michael Schumacher's 2004 record of 13 grand prix wins in a season.