Ashish K Mishra

The Indian Grand Prix has been dropped from the Formula 1 calendar for 2014. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone used two words to describe his pain with the India GP – ‘taxes’ and ‘politics’. Sure one can blame taxes or politics, but at the heart of the F1 controversy is a fundamental question – Is Formula 1 really a sport? Because if the Indian government was to acknowledge it as one, then it would have been like any other sporting event in the country. I spoke with Vicky Chandhok, president of the Federation of Motorsports Clubs in India (FMSCI) to get his perspective on the issue. Here are a few excerpts from that interview.

Is Formula 1 a sport?
This question has been raised by many people taking a cue from former sports minister M S Gill, who decided that it was not. Now that can be his personal perception. It is up to him. It is a free world. Fact of the matter is that Formula 1 is a sport and there is no doubt about that in my mind. It is perhaps one of the most hi-tech and riskiest sports in the world, where participants need to make decisions in micro seconds which could either let them live or could kill them. For those that say that motorsport is not a sport, I would like to remind them that the fitness levels of the participants are far superior than many athletes or any sporting disciplines recognized in this country.

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