Shriya Lohia - India’s Teen Formula 4 Trailblazer

A 17-year-old racing driver from India looks you in the eye and says her goal is Formula One and suddenly your idea of what “normal” looks like changes. I’m incredibly proud to be joined by Shriya Lohia, a female Formula 4 driver who started racing at nine after a family road trip detour into a go-karting track and never looked back. She’s already made history in Indian F4, and she talks with refreshing honesty about what it takes to keep progressing when the sport is expensive, the pathway is uncertain, and the stereotypes still hang around.

We get into the real craft of racing, not just the headlines. Shriya explains why driver-engineer communication is a competitive weapon, how small set-up changes matter in a spec series like Formula 4, and why her dad’s best advice is to “go annoy the engineer”. Off track, she shares the routines that keep her steady on race weekends: music that flips her mindset from pressure to focus, plus meditation and journalling to clear mental clutter before she straps in.

Then we zoom out to the bigger question: what would it take for motorsport in India to truly scale and for Formula One to return? We talk fan culture, sponsorship, investment, the Buddh International Circuit dream, and why backing Indian drivers can be the catalyst for an entire ecosystem. If you care about Formula 1, Formula 4, women in motorsport, or the future of Indian sport, this one will stick with you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves racing, and leave a review with your take: what’s the single biggest thing India needs to unlock its motorsport potential?

Transcript

Meet A 17-Year-Old F4 Driver

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Hello, Julian. How are you?

SPEAKER_02 0:23

I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Yeah, not too bad. Thank you so much. Um, and obviously your representation. Uh specifically your parents. Let let's let's get them in on this because I can guarantee you the majority of folks who look at this podcast, listen to this podcast, uh, it's gonna freak them out in a good way. In a really, really positive way. So I'm not gonna steal any of your thunder. Um, would you just like to start off with who you are and what is it that you do?

SPEAKER_04 1:00

My name is Sri Aluhya. I'm 17 years old and I'm a racing driver. Um, most particularly, I guess I raced in Formula 4, which is um, let's say the first step to Formula One in the single-seated ladder. And I've been racing since I was nine years old. I'm from India, born and raised in India. And yeah, I guess uh I've been I've been racing since then, it's the thing I love the most, and you know, obviously my goal is to um try to get to Formula One someday and you know just uh get to the pinnacle of motorsports and uh represent my country and and you know inspire a lot of people hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Right. Did did you did you all hear that, right? Because that when I was doing a little bit of research around which guests and potential guests to approach, um, because as all of you guys know, dubai is all around stories that matter. And I to my to my disgrace had no idea that there were awesome people like Shreya, and there are more, who uh aspire to get to Formula One. Okay, and you you didn't hear Shreya wrong, yeah. Formula four out of India, and the team which team are you you driving for right now, Shriya?

SPEAKER_04 2:21

Um the team that I drove uh Formula Four for is Hyderabad Dlackpurt. So it's uh it's an Indian team. Uh I've raced in Indian Formula Four, and you know I'm looking to race abroad this year, hopefully. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Fantastic, fantastic. And and keep me honest here. You were the first person to get some points in Formula Four, right?

SPEAKER_04 2:45

Yeah, so I was um the first female to drive in Indian F4, uh, and also I believe the youngest female because I debuted when I was 15. Um Yeah, and then I s I was able to score points uh in my first race, which was which was pretty cool. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

I mean I'm I'm obviously for now this is audio only, and um I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat because I'm I'm stunned. Uh I'm there's so much admiration. And to see someone like you doing something like you're a racing driver. How does it feel when you get asked and what do you do? And you you I'm a racing driver. What does that feel like?

SPEAKER_04 3:29

It feels really cool because you know this is uh something not everyone gets to experience, let's say, because it's uh it's such a let's say inaccessible sport in a way. And also because, you know, we're in India and there's not a lot of more sports here. I think it's really cool to tell people, like, you know, if they ask you what do you do um for a living, or like what do you want to do for a living? It's like, oh, I just want to drive cars fast and things like that. You know, they they kind of get confused um at first because they're like, what is she talking about? Um, but then you know, obviously it's uh it's everything I've dreamed of since I stepped into a go-kart when I was nine. So yeah, it's just the I would say it's probably one of the coolest jobs in the world as you know, being an athlete in any sport is so that is amazing.

The Go-Kart Ride That Changed Everything

SPEAKER_01 4:15

So where did it all start? I mean what happened? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:21

Yeah, it started when I was nine, and my family and I we were just like on a road trip uh because we used to take a lot of road trips when we were younger, and we still do. And we stopped at a go-karting track and we didn't we didn't know what it was, right? That's why it intrigued us, and we stopped there and we're like, what is this? And you know, is it something we can try out for fun? So uh we went and we saw the small go-kart track and we thought that, oh, this is cool. And then it was my sister, my elder sister and I, who decided that okay, you know what, we'll we'll go for a few laps and we see we'll we'll see what this thing is. Because it was something new to us, we hadn't seen it before, and we decided, okay, yeah, let's just go for a few laps and see how it ends. Um, so that's how it happened. You know, I went for a uh for uh just fun go-karting, and I ended up enjoying that so much, even though I've it's probably the slowest go-kart I've driven in my life to this day. Uh, but it was like, you know, the first experience, and uh I kept lapping my sister again and again because my sister was uh not as quick as me, let's say. Um obviously, obviously that made me really happy and it you know gave me a big adrenaline rush just driving at those speeds. And then uh I decided that you know what, this is so cool and this is what I feel like I want to do as a sport. And I've done a lot of sports at that age. So, you know, I was in I played tennis, basketball, swimming, everything, but like nothing really, you know, stood out the way that more sports lived. Because I feel like that was a feeling that no other sport could replicate in that way, and also to get that done in Rush at nine and think that I can actually do this, you know, legally. I think that was really cool. And I decided that you know what, this is what I want to do, and that's where you know uh the conversation came up with my parents and things like that. They clearly saw that I was interested, and you know, luckily they've they've been very supportive, and they saw that I want to do this, so they really, you know, got me into training programs and then yeah, started training and and participating in championships.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Wow. So you you definitely got the bug at nine. Yeah. Right? You're 17 now, right? Wow. That's insane. I mean, to keep that up um for starters, so the discipline that's required. Uh and it's not yeah, it's it's it's not like grabbing a bat and ball and running around in in in the street, right? Um you you need a lot of support um and and dedication and all of that kind of stuff. So props to you, big time. That's that's huge, and and also to your parents, right? Because all of a sudden that's that's like I mean, back in my time,

Family Support In A Risky Sport

SPEAKER_01 7:00

if I had said, and I did, right, to my folks, okay, I want to be a musician, uh-huh. Interesting words. You know, your your whole life is mapped out for them. Yeah. Um, but to have fantastically supportive parents, which clearly you do, right? Which is which is great. What what do they think?

SPEAKER_04 7:24

Um my dad, like I feel like anyone else's dad, he loves this kind of stuff. Um, you know, um, he loves adventure sports, he loves anything to do with, let's say, extreme stuff. And, you know, he's a bit of uh enthusiast himself with cars and stuff, not as uh much, let's say, like he didn't know uh he wasn't so much into motorsports or or racing until you know after I got into it. But you know, he's always had that interest for um, let's say cars and things like that. So he was obviously I think really happy because uh you know we're two um sisters and my dad probably felt like you know he needed someone to um resonate with, let's say, uh on certain things. Um but yeah, I mean he was really happy obviously that um I had picked up this interest and he he has been. He's the one who uh travels with me for every single race weekend. He's been with me like from the first day to the last day he's been there every single time. Um my mom, on the other hand, I mean, I feel like she's she's happy with it as well. She's proud of me, she's cool with it, I know that. But she's also a bit on the um, you know, she finds most what's dangerous because it is dangerous, you know. She's she's a bit on the stiffer side, let's say. Um in the years that I've been racing, she's not been to a single race weekend. So that says a lot about, you know, how how she likes to uh stay at home and watch it from the television rather than um in person, let's say. Um but yeah, I mean she's also very supportive about it, obviously. Um I think she she also it's also a moment of uh pride for her, right, to tell uh people that you know it's she's my daughter and she's uh in this male-dominated sport and she's she's you know finding her way and and doing things differently. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Fantastic. Where where do you where do you think your competitive nature comes from?

SPEAKER_04 9:07

My comparative nature, I feel like I don't think I inherited it from any of my parents, I'd say. Uh my parents are competitive, but not, you know, they haven't been as much in sports like around the time when I was born. Like I haven't seen them. They were they did have a bit of sports background, like my mom. Uh, she was quite into badminton uh in her teenage years, but uh not much, you know, around the time I was born. So I don't think I inherited it from either of them, I would I would want to say. But more so through, I guess, just growing up around sports. Like that's been kind of the thing for me, right? You know, I've been trying all kinds of stuff, like even normal things that say for um children who aren't always learning how to, you know, ride a bicycle or swim at a certain age and things like that. I've I've kind of been exposed to it at an earlier age than most around me. So I feel like that's kind of given me the sort of let's say urge to do well in things, and that's you know, then it immediately translates to uh wanting to be the best in something and then you know wanting to compare yourselves to let's say people who are already in that kind of space. So I feel like that's kind of been the thing, like because I've been exposed to exposed to sports, it's just uh sort of come along the way, and I felt like it's just something so rewarding, and it has been since I was a young child. So yeah, I mean I think it's it's naturally something that's uh that's been developed throughout uh through throughout my sport and through time.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

That's fantastic. I mean, Formula Four. Um I don't know. I'm I'm I'm still sat here and I'm still thinking, right, I'm I'm speaking to a proper racing driver. Right? That's that's that's just so cool. It's

Favourite F1 Drivers And Teams

SPEAKER_01 10:55

it's so cool. So who which team do you root for?

SPEAKER_04 10:58

In Formula One.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Like if you're looking at F1.

SPEAKER_04 11:00

In Formula One. Oh let's say I'm a pretty like big-time Ferrari fan, so I'm kind of happy that you know things are things are going our way so far this year. Um but besides that, I think Williams is a great team. And uh I mean, this year's I mean, we've been off to an okay start. Um and then also McLaren, particularly because of Oscar. Um I'm a big Oscar fan, so yeah, hoping that things go well. Uh I mean hoping things get started for him, let's say, this year. Um, unfortunately, given that he's not started the first two races. So uh yeah, I mean, I would say I'm I'm a lot I'm a pretty big uh Ferrari fan, and also also Merck is a pretty cool team as well. I think George and Kimmy are a nice drivers and and Piotr was a great team deal, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

So no no no Max in there?

SPEAKER_04 11:52

Max, I mean I am I have Max supporter for sure. Actually, I can't I can't believe I kind of missed out on that um for a moment, but yeah, I mean Max and Isaac are a really good uh lineup as well. Isaac is a really cool driver as well as Max. And yeah, I mean I I feel like I'm not heavily biased towards one team, let's say. It's more uh it's more so I have certain favorite drivers, um, not more of a team. So yeah, that's it's kind of how I put it.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Wow. Wow. So so what what I guess the the carding came first and then you fell in love with that. It wasn't kind of, you know, um I wouldn't say it was a more traditional thing. It wasn't like, you know, you want F1 and maybe uh Shuey or whoever else, you know, Hamilton, and you're kind of thinking, I want to do that.

SPEAKER_04 12:42

Yeah, no, it wasn't it was like the opposite. I'd say I got more hands-on experience first, and then I sort of uh started to find out more about the sport.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Nah that's great. And are you one of those drivers who annoys the engineers as well?

SPEAKER_04 12:58

I am, I am for sure. I feel like I feel like it's an important thing to do because I it's so important to be, you know, uh communicating well with the engineer because uh they're the ones who know your car inside out as well as your mechanics. So I think it's important to have that thing. I mean, I've actually the fact that you brought it up, my dad and I always have this thing like at race weekends. Anytime I feel like you know I'm having a certain doubt or a problem. My dad literally says, like, go annoy the engineer, like go annoy them, you know, eat their brains out. And I'm like, yeah, that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Because you know I like your dad.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

I like him so much. He sounds amazing.

SPEAKER_04 13:39

Yeah, I mean, we've we've actually had that. Like the exact words we just quote that, like, I'm gonna go annoy the engineer now. You know, this is uh this is what I wanna wanna fry their brains about, you know.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Uh completely different discipline. I mean, you don't know

Why Driver Engineer Talk Matters

SPEAKER_01 13:55

this about me, um, but I used to be an engineer once upon a time. Avionics, yeah, yeah, yeah. Nothing, nothing to do with motorsports, it was aircraft, riper electronics. Um, but even then, uh the pilots would love to have protracted conversations with us. Yeah. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:15

I could actually go on for hours with an engineer, and I've done that before because I just feel like they bring such a unique perspective as well from the side of the granates that they work from. I think it's just so insightful over speaking to them, and also um both of my parents uh studied engineering, so they're they're both from engineering backgrounds, so it's it's yeah, it's something I really look forward to speaking to them every time.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

That's that's

Homeschooling And Life Outside Racing

SPEAKER_01 14:40

just so cool. So outside of I don't know, do you do you have time? I mean, obviously, I say obviously, um I read somewhere that you were homeschooling. Is that right? Okay. And what what else then? Right? What else? What else does Sharia do downtime? What kind of music do you listen to?

SPEAKER_04 15:00

What kind of music? Oh my god, that's a tough question. I listen to anything and everything, like genuinely anything and everything. I I feel like anytime someone asks me, like, what's your favorite genre in music? I cannot decide because I just have way too many. I have like, let's say, 40 to 50 playlists on Spotify. Everything is like a different thing, you know, whatever I want to hear. I just put that one on at that moment. But yeah, in terms of music, let's say I'm uh I really like a lot of Indian music. I listen to a lot of um Punjabi. So Punjab, Punjabi is the language from Punjab, right? Obviously, I listen to a lot of Punjabi music.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Um Punjabi, it's cool. We're good. We're Punjabi. Yeah, we're so good.

SPEAKER_04 15:40

Punjabi music is probably one of my favorite things ever. I feel like it's um such a good hype music as well, and there's some really beautiful uh songs as well. Um there's just everything. I think there's a lot to it, as well as you know, there's a lot of um there's a few artists from Himachal itself, the state that I live in, and uh particularly Mohat Johan, he's one of my favorite artists. He has a beautiful voice, he sings really beautiful songs, and then I guess um, you know, all around pop. I mean, I grew up with a lot of um American pop music growing up, so that's obviously something we listen to as well. And then it's just just everything, honestly. I don't think I could fixate on a single genre of music. I just listen to anything.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

How about like pre- pre- pre-race? How do you how do you get into the zone? Because I read somewhere that yeah, that music, yeah, you gotta have certain I love listening to music, it's one of my favorite uh things to do.

SPEAKER_04 16:34

Um so let's say pre-race, obviously you wanna um hype yourself up and for me, sometimes it's Punjabi, sometimes it's um it's some nice uh you know, pop songs from back then that that remind me of, you know, um let's say simpler simpler times. Uh like if I feel like, you know, okay, today's a race day and I need to do well and I'm sort of feeling the pressure. I like to go back to a song that reminds me of um of my younger days. When I was a small kid, you know, I didn't think about all this kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

That would sort of do you have any idea how insane that sounds to an old man like me? Right. I've got a 17-year-old racing driver talking about her younger days.

SPEAKER_04 17:15

Probably. But like younger days, I mean, you know, when I when I was a kid, when I was a kid, and I and we would listen to music without, you know, thinking much about it. Um it's definitely changed since then, you know, since we become teenagers, we start analyzing everything around us so much more. So yeah, I mean I like to go back to the songs that I used to listen to when uh when you were just listening for the vibes, let's say, because that kind of puts me back into that um mindset and stops me from thinking about oh, what's gonna happen in the race or what's this? It's just like, oh chill, just vibes, like vibes before you go into the race, nothing else. That is something I like to do. And you know, inspirational songs. I mean, you can never go wrong with like the Hall of Fame and songs that really uh, you know, remind you what you're doing this for and and what your ultimate goal is. I think uh that I would say those three are kind of my main three race.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

Yeah, but I guess because of the discipline that you are in, right? It is it's so technical on one side, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:19

But it's I was also reading um a transcript uh for one of your other um sessions. And it's more in the mind than it is physical. Yeah, so d do you do you meditate and do you how is that also part of your um your process for actually preparing for a race or you know, how how does that all work?

Music Rituals For Race Day Focus

SPEAKER_04 18:43

Um so yeah, I definitely am a lot into meditation because I feel like that's so important to uh be in control with yourself and your mind because obviously that's the one thing that uh that will keep you at your best when you're driving at those speeds, because if if you're not thinking well, you know, anything would go wrong. There's a lot at stake at that point. Um meditation is something I definitely do pay a lot of attention to, and as well as journaling, I feel like that's something I've picked up over the last year or so. And it's just been like filling out a page every day. Um, particularly on race days, maybe it's more than one page. Um, but yeah, it's just about you know putting things out there and um sort of um letting everything out and my expectations for myself and sort of let's say little promises to myself that this is what I want to work on, this is what I will work on, and this is uh, you know, how I'm gonna deal with uh so-and-so situation, or this is how I'm gonna approach source or race week. And I feel like that's those are two things I I like to do too, let's say on the karma side to sort of prepare for races, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:45

So do you think that that kind of on the borderline of uh what do they call it, manifesting things or is this just making sure that you you're absolutely as focused as you could possibly be?

SPEAKER_04 19:58

Let's say a bit of both. Um I also have picked up like let's say the habit of manifestation from one of my close friends in racing itself. So yeah, I mean that's something I'm slowly getting into, not as much, let's say, but for me, uh, you know, journaling is more of like an outlet and uh making sure, you know, I have everything out there and I'm not, you know, um I don't have a lot of things in my head before a race. And if there is something that I feel like I don't want bothering me, I just I just put it out there and then I'm able to, you know, um reset myself before I go into the next session.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

That's that's yeah, I mean I I'm still learning about your discipline. Yeah, right. Um I was yeah murder sports didn't really do it for me until um maybe 10-15 years ago. Right. Uh and then I started to get into it, and it wasn't because of a particular driver or anything like that. Um it was just yeah, all of a sudden it became interesting. Um but that whole technical plus the individual, the driver. There's so much more to murder sport and you know, F4 and all the way up to F1.

Meditation Journalling And Manifestation

SPEAKER_01 21:19

What's the size of a team for a standard well, your team? How how many, how many people are there in a standard F4 team?

SPEAKER_04 21:27

Um, so for an F4 team at a race weekend, let's say we've got, you know, uh engineer, we've got uh a mechanic, one or two mechanics on a car, a personal race engineer, and you know the other side of it, let's say, you know, the physical side or the mental side of it, uh, you could have a mentor or you could have, you know, a physical coach with you, which is uh something I haven't experienced yet, but maybe, maybe soon. Um I don't have like, let's say, the close knit team at this point, um, that most drivers do, um, because you know, motor sport culture is not. as much here, like where we all don't have, you know, like a personal manager and and physical coach and things like that.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

But yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:07

We're slowly, slowly heading towards that direction. And maybe when I race internationally, that'll be something for me. But yeah, on a typical race weekend you have your race engineer and you've got one or two mechanics operating your car and it's kind of just uh you know the three of you you can sit down and debrief about things. Obviously the communication goes uh between the three of us so it's to the engineer and the engineer to the mechanic and even you to the mechanic if you feel like there's something but yeah everything just uh you know goes between the three of us we're always making sure that we have we know what's happening like if we're changing something on the car if if there's a certain driving style you know we're always open to inputs and um yeah work together that way.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

No that's crazy. I mean how in comparison to F1 right um obviously it it's regulated. Formula four is regulated as well. But is it the same that every year there's new rules there's certain things that you're allowed to do and certain things you're not supposed to be doing with the design of the cars and you know stuff like that. Is is that still does that go all the way through?

SPEAKER_04 23:14

So in terms of Formula 4, 3 and 2, these are all spec series so we have the same car from a particular manufacturer and everyone likes that same car. So you're not allowed to do much to it other than you know basic setups and uh you know adjustments to everyone's driving style let's say so it's not as massive as you know in Formula One where every team um builds their own car. So yeah I mean we don't have like you know a new set of regulations every year or things like that. We're just uh it's kind of just playing with the format of you know how many qualifying laps you can do or or uh you know whether we do a reverse grid race or we don't do so that's the most that we play with let's say and you know it's just about learning the basic setups of the car obviously that's how it goes from Formula 4 to uh Formula 2 formula four to two and then formula one I think is where the

How Formula 4 Teams Actually Work

SPEAKER_04 24:05

big change comes in and and there's a lot more things to handle.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

No that's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 24:10

So I mean from from a track perspective right um if you could if somebody said yeah here's a car yeah here's a track what would be that car what would be that track that's a tough question honestly because there's so many tracks and there's so many cars and I feel like that's probably one of the most confusing questions to ask a racing driver because you can never settle on like one thing. You know you you kind of want to experience it all let's say um I would say but the funny thing is being in India I haven't ever raced at the Buddin International Circuit which is our Formula One circuit and because you know it's uh it's not um been functional uh post 2014 you know when Formula One stopped uh coming to India I think I would love to um probably go out on the circuit that we do have the Formula One circuit um which is both where's that uh it's in Noida in Delhi so it's not too far away from here as well. Just haven't been there you know never had a championship that that's raced then unfortunately at this point but hopefully soon. But yeah that's what I think I'd want to experience Buddh because it's a track so many legends have driven on we had Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher who's my biggest inspiration in Formula One. We've had them all race here, you know it's I want to experience the same thing that they've experienced in my home country. And as for a car I feel like again that's such a tough question. Like you could you could ask me you know I could I could say every car in the world like bring me every single car. I want to drive every single car but yeah I mean obviously the dream would be to drive a Formula One car at my in my home country at my at my home track. So yeah I'd probably say that and you know that's something I really hope for uh to happen some point in the future you know for the Fund Grand Prix to come back in India and for myself to you know um be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

No that that's fantastic. I mean clearly there's pride there's a lot of pride right I mean you're Indian yeah um and regardless of obviously you are going to progress and your fingers crossed right you you will get to F1 right I totally understand how tough that is um but then to already start thinking about yeah bringing it back bringing it back to India.

SPEAKER_04 26:39

I feel like that's part of the process right like if I'm able to get to uh the pinnacle or or even if not Formula One if Formula Two or if I'm able to make my mark let's say in the single seater world I think that would leave a lasting impact on my country and for the state of motorsports in my country and hopefully you know be sort of um the moment that helps pivot the return of of Formula One. That's what that's what we need right we need um our country to get that interest back again and to see that we have drivers capable of getting there and we have uh you know a circuit capable of hosting the same Grand Prix that hosted so many years ago and you know maybe this time with uh with a few more Indian drivers so yeah no for sure I mean what what

Dream Tracks And Racing At Buddh

SPEAKER_04 27:26

what do you think really really needs to happen?

SPEAKER_01 27:29

I mean you got the investment side of things and I know um not that I watched any of them right because it's not my thing um but I know years back there was a few I call them Bollywood films right where it was all about you know motorsping does it do you think there needs to be more of that what what else needs to happen to raise the profile of motorsport in India do you think I think motorsport is actually relatively famous in India uh I there was a recent research I think about Formula One's viewership and a lot of it comes from India because you know we're such a big country we have such a huge population also yeah yeah we are interested in motorsports that was visible with you know the the report that came out and we have we have drivers you know working our way up but not as many as uh you know any country in Europe let's say um I think what really needs to happen is obviously you know the investment side is the main thing that we need um the investment to take place for it to happen but we also need you know the interest let's say even if it's investment we need the investment from someone who is genuinely interested in motorsports who is looking for it to come back as a sport and not as entertainment which is what they had classified it as when it was in India at that point that's kind of why it stopped so we need we need that passion let's say we have we might have that passion with those people but we need that community and we need those people to be able to bring that back and make sure that it's not taken away from us again you know we need it to stay we need we need to make sure that we get that um platform here because we have we have the community we can see that you know we have a lot of motorsport fans um any motorsport event that happens in India there's there's a huge turnout always because everyone everyone loves seeing it everyone loves watching yeah so that's exactly what we need right and as well as the drivers that are already you know on the ladder I think if if we're able to support them at this point because we're such a big country you know we have we have a lot of resources in that sense and we have uh we have a lot of love for sport and and in India it's cricket.

SPEAKER_04 29:42

Cricket is the biggest port. If we're able to distribute you know that love and support for more sports as well let's say and support the drivers like Kush Maini who's in who's in Formula 2 to make it to the pinnacle I think then we're able to you know serve a larger audience, a wider audience and we're able to uh prove that born born and brought up Indians are truly able to get there. And I think that that would be something that could uh absolutely um you know change the state of of motorsports in India but yeah the main thing is you know I mean everyone we have everyone associates outside of India right so as far as I'm aware everyone you say India and you say sport okay cricket.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

Yeah yeah the whole country yes we know this right but even in um football yeah right soccer the Americans call it um there's a massive massive cult following for literally every top team from every country within India right you can't go to a bar on a game night anywhere in and I've been there right especially in Bangalore I mean my my friends there are just absolutely crazy they just nuts right unfortunately most of them are Liverpool fans but hey you know what no one's perfect yeah no one's perfect I can't hold that against them um but that as a sport as well I'm thinking yeah even they need so much more visibility and more funding so there's definitely some kind of pecking order. So cricket right it gets all of the the press

What Indian Motorsport Needs Next

SPEAKER_01 31:20

the praise the celebration and and why not because India's got sorry it's got the best cricket players the best teams it it just has right for now regardless of what the Aussies say um but then you've got the global football yeah right which is going on F1 is again from my perspective it's not as prominent in India but there is just do the math people write the numbers there's so many people like you've just shared with us who engage with it who have a passion with it um and even I know because I visit India a lot there's so many folks who will just be walking around with you know F1T paraphernalia everyone you know not everyone but like lots of Ferrari tops lots of AMG you know all of the above um and Red Bull in particular as well great to see it it really really is great to see 100% I think it brings a lot of that um you know back to India and uh with you know Red Bull's events also people love seeing it we love seeing it it's absolutely everything to us and um also you know seeing that even Alvid Linblard now being announced as uh the F1 driver the most recent F1 driver and the fact that he has Indian roots and Punjabi roots it's it's so special to all of us you know where even though he may not be you know born and raised in India he is still part Indian and we all embrace him like like one of our own. So it shows you know the love for sport that us Indians have it's it's there for cricket for sure but you know we also um need let's say the companies to sort of expand beyond cricket and the sponsors to sort of ex expand beyond cricket and then we have the fan base there's so many people watching Formula One there's so many people this is the thing I mean even if you're just looking at volume right yeah exactly you know um the numbers are insane the following is incredible um you know going to football games for example because that used to be my sport you know when I was younger and playing all the rest of it same as everybody else's just you follow a team that's your team you'll watch every game you'll play as often as you can you have that community vibe going on um and I'm sure that has to happen for motorsport in India. It has to particularly with so many people like yourself and a couple of folks that you've already mentioned who are up and coming um India's just I wouldn't say it's waking up it's it's it's it's frustrating for me. Yeah right genuinely it's frustrating for me that I mean my game uh is you know strategy and design. Yeah. Right? And people look at India as okay you're just an IT shop you're you're you then that's all you do. And I've been working really hard to raise the profile of design within India for quite some time. And it's hard.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

Right? There's this kind of global mental model. It might be a legacy of colonialism that okay India's over there not sure what goes on oh food. Yeah they do a lot of good food it's spicy though blah blah blah blah blah and you when you talk about India in the context of sport it's always cricket. I wish to God the the national football team or whoever's looking after that um would sort that out because the potential there is huge but motorsport motorsport i'm i i'm absolutely confident that 90% of anyone who's going to be listening to this they're gonna be thinking hang on there's F4 in India there's motor sport in India there's a 17 year old amazing driver and others also um who are getting into this thing and who are already successful at this. Yeah right because you've been incredibly successful right and and long may that continue. That's hopefully this this this will do a small thing um to raise awareness right uh because I I think it's frustrating yeah it's frustrating for you know an immigrant kid who was born and raised in London in the UK I work globally traveled around India I go to every year at least twice right um and people still have this kind of hmm interesting it's it's almost patronizing yeah yeah right I mean which is weird but you know we'll change it we'll change it I think I think in the same way that it happened with cricket it's it's got to happen with other things as well professionally and also within sports um so you know all like I said credit to you uh your your support your team your family um who who are clearly helping you um uh to do what it is that you want to do yeah I mean I'm I'm honestly so grateful for that right because so obviously you know I'm very grateful for my parents' support given that they grew up in the times where the stereotypes for women and for kids uh you know stepping out of the engineering and doctor line still existed and they grew up with that you know they didn't have much of a choice like I said my mom was uh was into badminton but it wasn't you know a realistic option for her parents to let her pursue that and that's something that she's able to give me the opportunity she's changing that stigma you know from when she grew up to when I'm growing up and and that's obviously something I'm eternally grateful for and that's something that needs to happen for us to produce like let's say the Virat Kohlies and the MS Tonis of India because that's exactly how it'll happen right it's not gonna it's not it's probably not gonna be a kid who's uh who's have who's had their life planned out from from birth to do engineering or to do you know a corporate job after so and so time.

SPEAKER_04 37:39

I think it's about letting your child um go do what they love and and give their life for it and do everything for it because that's exactly how we're gonna get those those kind of people. So yeah I mean for me it's it's a big thing to get the support from my family to you know for my parents to even face the traditional people that we do know who still sort of probably uh you know believe in the fact that uh women should not be in male-dominated sports or that you know children should not uh let's say um go into this kind of thing and sort of try to figure things out and go into a sport like this where you know a future is not guaranteed or things like that. So yeah I mean it's a lot more than I could ever ask for right like it's not just me who's uh making the sacrifices or taking the risks it's it's my family and it's their support. So truly you

Sponsorship Reality And What’s Next

SPEAKER_04 38:30

know I I would be nothing without them and I owe everything I have to them.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

So yeah I mean that's probably the biggest blessing for me to have these parents here in this country who are willing to help me uh change change the stereotypes no it's it's it's going to happen right it's not happening with the velocity that we would all like right but it is definitely going to happen um because simply again because of the numbers yeah the population is is what it is yeah the investment in the country the infrastructure the development um that India has been seeing for quite some time now um and I can't I cannot wait Shria to see you and your colleagues in motorsport in India like I'm I'm gonna be I'm gonna be one of those kind of not so secret fanboys right it's like you'll you'll be on TV somewhere I've spoken to that lady I yeah she's cool and look at her now yeah right I mean you're you're 17 but you are such an inspiration you really really are thank you and thank you thank you to you thank you to your family um and your entire support uh network that that is a enabling yeah you to do and to be so successful thank you that that's just fantastic it's amazing it's it's so cool what's next what's next for you what's next for me I wish I could be um you know completely out there and say that I'm driving so and so championship but you know like I said motorsports is is not so big in India and to find sponsorship is is tough and you know I don't come from that sort of really wealthy background where I can just uh decide that you know this is what I'm gonna drive next so I don't have any concrete plans I have things in the works of course you know I'm speaking to teams I'm deciding championships and things that I can do but I don't I don't think I can make any official announcements uh all I can say is probably just uh you can hope the best for me and you know hope that things things work out as as well as I wish for them to work out and yeah uh hopefully you know I'll have a really cool uh announcement for this year soon that's fantastic how can folks get in touch with you are you're on the social whole code kind of thing are are you open people can just like reach out to you send you messages all of that kind of stuff how how big is I try to be but honestly the amount of messages I get on Instagram

How To Contact And Support Her

SPEAKER_01 41:10

which say it's really do sometimes take out the time and and read the messages I do get and I I I get really happy anytime someone says that you know sort of inspired them in in a way or or uh you know given them some sort of uh introduction to moral sports and that that makes me happy I take time to read that out but um but yeah I mean I I'm able to have like a quick look throughout whenever and um where where where can folks actually do that? Because I think prospective sponsors hello are you listening? Right this is another way that you can get in touch with this fantastic young lady.

SPEAKER_04 41:45

For me the best way is probably to reach out through my mail which is um always on every single social platform that I have my Gmail is always yeah open to contact. And that's probably the one that we give most priority to right because it's a lot easier um for for my team to get back to people that way.

SPEAKER_01 42:03

I get it I get it.

SPEAKER_04 42:05

If anyone which hopefully they will they need to reach out to you um the obvious thing is is broadly okay what's your Instagram can they reach out to that yeah my Instagram is is just my name which is Shri Alohya um yeah um but yeah I mean that's probably one of the easiest ways through my website or through my mail is where I'm most active I do like go through stories when people you know mention mean stories and comments and posts I always look through stuff like that but then uh but yeah I mean it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

It's fine. So you're on Instagram you got your own website folks particularly you lovely sponsors with your lovely lovely money if you wanted to and why wouldn't you support this fantastic young lady in her mission um to yeah just absolutely follow her dream from f4 all the way through to f1 um and why not?

SPEAKER_04 43:02

Why not let's see that let's see that happen yeah I I love talking to people honestly like about my sport about motorsports in general I think it's something I I could talk for hours about which is you know it's it's a fun way for me also because even like my family like I said you know they're not much into motorsports and they're not like you know avid Formula One watchers or race watchers so I can't they they kind of you know every now and then they'll tell me like yeah okay just stop talking about racing because that's genuinely all I talk about. So yeah it's it's always fun for me to to have you know people to talk to and new perspectives to share I guess say one of the most important things and I feel like for like from India the main thing is for uh from my perspective for India to support Indians to to get there and then you know the Formula One thing will happen. I just feel like I myself am I in a situation where it's a lot of question marks as to you know why Some companies or sponsors are not taking the risk as of yet to uh sort of bring Formula One back because we have a huge fan base. Um, even with there was the Red Bull Moto Jam event that happened in Delhi with Arvid, it had a huge turnout, everyone absolutely loved it. Um we have the audience, we have absolutely everything, right? F1 wants the audience, F1 will get the audience if it will get like double or triple the audience if they come back to India.

SPEAKER_01 44:27

So yeah, I mean Can you imagine if there was a road race, like like a city take over, right? Wow. Wow. Which which which city do you think would be would be kind of cool for that?

SPEAKER_04 44:38

I always say Chandig. I always say Chandila. I feel like that would be one of the perfect places to host something like that.

SPEAKER_01 44:48

Wow. Chandiga City Road Race. Awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. That is fantastic.

Final Thoughts And Goodbye

SPEAKER_01 44:55

Shriya, you have been an absolute delight. I mean, you're you're doing something that very, very few people globally forget about India, get a chance to do. Yeah. Um, but you're doing it and you're killing it. It's amazing. Um, so thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you so so much for your time and for being so candid and open and honest with everything that we've spoken about.

SPEAKER_04 45:23

Thank you. I mean, I really enjoyed speaking. Like I said, I always love any conversation about motorsports. I just uh you know talking to new people and hearing their perspective about things like this. So yeah, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 45:36

You're more than welcome.