Vijay Mallya brings back the glamour and the glitter

You can't fault Vijay Mallya's commitment to Formula One. The Indian billionaire has come into the sport he loves with serious intent and he is revelling in the opportunity he has created for himself to play the game in motor racing's toughest arena.

Having been out to Bombay to meet him and got a sense of how he operates - I was at the team launch in early February - I have a strong feeling that he will not be content to see Force India remain as a backmarker for long and Mallya will gradually put the people and funding in place to enable the team to move up the grid. You only have to look at his business interests - especially his airline Kingfisher - to see how ambitious he is.

Mallya strikes me as a classic Formula One team owner - fabulously wealthy with a huge appetite for life and a real passion for motor racing. Despite his extensive business commitments, he hasn't missed a minute of this season and last night he hosted an enormous party on his superyacht, the Indian Empress. The boat was moored out on the Bosphorus in a setting which gave a great view of Istanbul at night(which is worth seeing, if you've never been here, with the many mosques and bridges spectacularly lit along the shore). We accessed the yacht via the Kempinski Palace hotel which is quite a setting itself, and then went aboard via ludicrously large launches which were on the move, to and fro, all night. It was no shoes on deck but we were offered extra red socks and a fleece to help us keep warm.

The Empress is absolutely vast and was previously owned by the Saudi Royal family, so that gives you some idea. Multiple decks, acres of immaculate teak and enough space for more than a thousand people to enjoy without feeling cramped. Who(apart from Vijay) knows how much the party cost - £50,000 maybe, £100,000 - probably even more than that. Just as in Bombay where I last went aboard, the music was ridiculously loud and so it was a bit of a shouting match. There were people there from all walks of Formula One plus plenty of the local party set. There were at least two sessions of fireworks from barges moored nearby and, despite the evening chill(which felt more like England than Turkey), Mallya created a fun atmosphere. I arrived at nine and left before eleven by which time the food was just beginning to appear so it looked as if this was going to be a long evening.

It was not all pleasure for Vijay. When I arrived a fairly comprehensive group of team principals(Red Bull, BMW, Ferrari, Renault to name a few) plus Bernie were leaving after what appeared to have been a mini Formula One summit on board in one of the many drawing rooms which were out of bounds to us ordinary mortals. Interesting that this gathering was held on Vijay's territory. No doubt we will find out in the coming days what was discussed...

Pic of Indian Empress by Anirban Bonnei via flickr

Comments

[INSIDER WHO CANNOT BE NAMED]

I can give you the exclusive Ed; a race in India for 5 years from as early as next year...

[David Hodge]

So Mr. Ed Gourmand. It sounds like you have been having a good time again - whooping it up in the BA lounge then partying aboard the big boat. If ever you need an assistant, let me know. As a professional journalist, you can surely write better than what I can do and make good grammar. However, I'll cover the parties, etc for you.

On a serious note, any news of that clandestine meeting aboard the yacht? Another meeting (after Toyota motorhome) of the Max Fan Club?

[IDR]

More than 300 ft of pleasure made by Oceanco.

You say... 100.000 GBP for the party, but what about the costs for a week of this superb yatch?

More than 700.000 GBP just for putting the yacht in the boshorus and give a plenty weekend for Mallya guests.

SuperAuguri would have been very happy sharing this budget with Mallya!

2 Masters staterooms and 14 staterooms. Not too bad, but I would prefer to be invited than to have to pay the bill.

Next stop, Monaco I guess.

Well Ed, next time don't forget to tell us something about the menu!

[Dean Rodrigues]

As an Indian Brit, Vijay Mallya really epitomises "brave new India", and his flamboyance does make me proud. I've got to say the comparisons between Vijay Mallya and Richard Branson are very accurate. For his 50th birthday in 2005 he arranged for the entire fleet of Kingfisher Airways aeroplanes to do a fly-by over his pad in Goa. Classic.

What's more, Kingfisher Airways - now the most popular, modern and reliable domestic Indian airline - was created as a means of circumventing the ban on alcohol advertising (i.e. his Kingfisher beer) in India. On a similar basis he bought the Bangalore's Twenty20 franchise and named it "Bangalore Royal Challengers" - "Royal Challenge" is another of United Breweries' brands.

The guy is a business genius, and several hundred million people over on the sub-continent are both optimistic and expectant of Vijay to replicate his business success in F1.

Unfortunately - as illustrated by Toyota - money does not equal speed. We shall see how Force India do...

[D]

^
If Max had been there, they could have made him walk the plank.

Must have been glorious to behold, both inside and on deck at night, before a thousand oiks arrived and the music started blasting. I'm not surprised you left early!

Big question is, have you secured a stateroom on it for Monaco? :-)

(I recommended that last February!)

[Liquid]

This guy definitely is living his life King Size as his brand caption says!!