A new Formula 1 venue is always an exciting prospect, but as the paddock heads for India's Buddh International Circuit this weekend, there will be even more feverish anticipation than usual – particularly among the teams' commercial chiefs.
The world championship's push towards far-flung new markets has seen mixed levels of success in recent years. F1's global reach has never been greater, but in too many of its recent additions it races in front of empty grandstands, before a population who care little for the sport, in regions with no motorsport heritage and therefore zero chance of home heroes to cheer for a long, long time.
Sponsors may be pleased to see their cars running in locations like South Korea and China, but it is depressing to compare the atmosphere at such races to the crowd fervour seen at tracks like Monza and Silverstone – locations that show F1's full emotion-tugging potential at its finest.
But this is where F1 chiefs hope India might be different. With its huge population, the nation is naturally an enormous market for sponsors, who are universally thrilled by India's arrival on the F1 schedule.
However it's India's passion for sport, primarily cricket at present, that F1 really hopes to tap into. F1's bosses see the possibility of large, cheering crowds at Buddh in time, because India is a country that knows how to go crazy over a sport it loves – and the teams reckons F1 has the potential to earn India's love.
Early indications from promotional activities in the country are good, with ample crowds for street demonstrations there, though reports suggest the inaugural grand prix will not be a sell-out. India already has a well-established foothold in F1 as well, having had two drivers on the grid – though only one will be racing this weekend – and an Indian-owned team already.
Narain Karthikeyan was a trailblazer for India's motorsport potential when he came to the European scene in the late 1990s and lit up British Formula 3 with his spectacular driving style – even though translating it into results wasn't always straightforward.
Karthikeyan, Team Lotus test driver Karun Chandhok and Force India's Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta have been undertaking huge media commitments in India in the build-up to the race.Karthikeyan admits that it's going to be hard for those completely new to F1 to understand why he's right at the back of the field... let alone why Chandhok is only appearing in Friday practice, and, livery and ownership aside, British-based Force India and their Scottish and German drivers are not exuding Indian characteristics...
But it's a basis to build on, a little something to make F1 more relevant to the locals – and far, far more than the likes of Turkey, Bahrain, China, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Korea had to go on when they joined the calendar. Vijay Mallya had hoped his Force India team would be ready to take a podium in India's inaugural F1 race.
It seemed a wild prediction when he made it three years ago, but then Force India peaked too soon – with their startling late-2009 form almost delivering wins. That always seemed too good to be true in the longer term, and sure enough in the less surreal 2010 and 2011 seasons they have slipped back to the upper midfield.
But recent developments bode very well for their Buddh chances – with Sutil and di Resta getting very accustomed to reaching Q3, and taking aim at Mercedes for the honour of being 'best of the rest' behind Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.
Those three teams are simply too strong for Force India to have a hope of getting a podium on pure pace this weekend, but should something utterly bizarre happen among the front-runners, Mallya's squad are genuinely one of those best placed to pick up the pieces on current form.
And with Karthikeyan's realistic ambitions extending to out-qualifying HRT team-mate Daniel Ricciardo – and maybe one of the Virgins at a stretch – it could be Sutil and di Resta who get Indian national passion flowing. On paper, the circuit layout doesn't look like much to stir the drivers' passions, with few quick corners.
But most of its bends are medium-speed rather than slow, bar the tight hairpins deliberately placed to prompt overtaking – which ought to guarantee a spicy race at least – while the Turn 10/11 combination looks a little reminiscent of Suzuka's challenging Spoon Curve.
Buddh's secret weapon could well be its gradients, with the circuit undulating throughout its 3.192-mile distance – and a few swoops, dives and cambers can make all the difference in turning a layout tepid in 2D diagrams into a thriller in 3D real life.
In many ways though, the quality of the circuit is incidental: What matters is that F1 is finally in India and, much as will be the case with its arrival in Russia and return to the United States, desperate to win over a nation that could be a massive part of the sport's future success if it gets this right.