Speed freaks & F1 fans had their 'need for speed' quenched when former F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton set the streets of Mumbai alight with his 2012 Mclaren MP4-27, as part of yesterday's 'Vodafone Speedfest.'
Thousands of autophiles lined the 1.5 km stretch of the Bandra-Kurla complex main road to watch Hamilton do 3 runs in his F1 car.
Three lucky Vodafone customers had their dreams come true, as they got a chance to ride with him in the Mercedes C63 AMG. Sadly, with security being extremely tight we didn't get a chance to get close to Lewis!
The event, hosted by Mandira Bedi & Manish Paul, started off with cheerleaders and stilted jokers doing a parade lap of the track keeping the audience entertained till Lewis arrived. The organizers had done a thorough job of arranging a DJ as well, who kept the tunes flowing.
At around 7:30 PM (just as Lewis arrived and was getting ready for his first run) the rain gods had a bit of a laugh and gave us a light shower resulting in a wet track. But this didn't dampen the enthusiast's spirits as the rooster tails from the MP4-27 more than made up for getting drenched!
The first run was flagged off by Maharashtra's Chief minister, Shri Prithviraj Chavan, with Hamilton running on wet-weather tyres (Intermediate tyres for the F1 fans). He didn't disappoint one bit and gave the audiences exactly what they had been waiting for; hearing an F1 car roaring its heart out!
Although Hamilton drove right along the barricades and did a few doughnuts & burnouts, keen F1 enthusiasts couldn't help but notice the heavy mis-firing from the engine, which is probably why his first run was rather short.
Following this, the three lucky winners from Vodafone got a few laps of the track with Hamilton behind the wheel of Mercedes's C63 AMG, doing burn-outs and doughnuts all throughout.
The first two laps were done in a white C63 and the rest in a red one; one of the lucky three claimed that the change in the car was because Lewis broke the first one! We don't think he is a big fan of Lewis!
After this came the real treats; with the mis-firing problem rectified Lewis went back out for a few more runs of the track, this time going through the gears after revving all the way to the red-line and on slicks! Deafening and orgasmic at the same time. He claimed to have hit just a measly 220kmph, although that's probably the highest speed these roads will ever witness!
This was followed by Lewis doing a round of the track in the promotional van with Mandira Bedi, handing out t-shirts to the audience while being interviewed by her. A third and final run was done by Lewis and this time, he made sure he traded some rubber with the streets of Mumbai, as a souvenir for Mumbaikars.
The show ended with a simple and elegant fire-works display, bringing an end to the Vodafone Speedfest!
And yes, the C63's left in a bit of style, indulging in a small drag-race of sorts. neither of them seemed broken at all!
Lewis Hamilton revvs up Mumbai - Image Slideshow
[can't see the slideshow above? Head over to Flickr to see the album]
