The Indian Grand Prix, which is running for the second year this weekend in Greater Noida, outside New Delhi, was one of the Formula One races that it had once seemed would never happen, could never happen — and then not only did it happen, but when it did it wowed the world.

After Formula One came to China with its race outside Shanghai in 2004, there remained no market in Asia more important for the elite racing series to break into than India. With a population of 1.2 billion and a growing middle class, the powerhouse on the subcontinent was a vast and potentially lucrative market for the series and its sponsors. Moreover, India even had a small auto-racing tradition of its own.

The British had started running rally races in the country in the 1920s, and there were Indian single-seater series. But most racing had not taken place on permanent, Formula One-style racetracks, of which there were only two in India, in Chennai and in Coimbatore, and neither was even close to meeting Formula One standards.

Formula One races had begun to be televised in India regularly in the 1990s, and the Kingfisher beer and airline company, owned by the racing fan Vijay Mallya, had been sponsoring teams since the 1990s.