Would someone please explain to Mr Gill that a Formula One car is a teeny weeny little different from the car he drives. I’m sure our Sports and Youth Affairs Minister has the country’s best interests at heart ( like all sports administrators do) but casting doubts over whether Formula One is a ’sport’ in the first place is amusing.

With warring sports associations and lack of sponsorships for Karting and Rally events, motorsport in India has survived despite the suicidal forces that govern it. And just when you thought the flamboyant Vijay Mallya brought a fresh leash of life for the sport with his purchase of Force India, in comes Mr Gill with his comment that “Formula One is entertainment and not sport”.

Agreed, Formula One is not something you can start playing in your backyard when you feel like it but to shun it under the guise of being “elitist’ looks to be a little too much. Let’s just take some perspective on this one (cos, it looks like we have nothing much to do today..)

Name the top three seeded Indian players (male and female) in the following sports:

1.Tennis 2. Golf 3. Badminton  4. Boxing  5. Swimming  6. Squash

Other than a few statistic crunchers, I’m sure most people will struggle to think beyond Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal, Jyoti Randhawa, Joshna Chinappa and Vijender Singh.

The open secret is that these top players were sucessful on their own account and not because of the system therefore in a way these sports are elitist too.. (how many people can afford a golf club membership?) yet they have never been questioned. We have several international level tournaments in each of these sports despite them not having a mass following then why should motorsport be any different?

As for it not having enough followers, we shouldn’t ignore a sport just because the majority don’t play it. In that respect, the most popular game in India, played in every nook and corner is Pakda Pakdi (I have absolutely no idea of how to translate it..how about catch and run?) so shouldn’t we build a stadium to allow everyone to play the game on a bigger stage?

Those who have not followed Formula One say that there is nothing interesting in watching a sport where a car keeps going round and round in a race track. What could be the challenge in that? Well, throw in speeds of over 300 km/h  with engines revving up to a formula imposed limit of 18,000 RPM, gravitational forces that pull the driver apart, the tactical pitstops and mechanical wizardy and you would know why Formula One is not just a sport but one of the most demanding activities in the planet.

Do a google check on packages offered to Indians travelling to Singapore and Bahrain for F1 races and you might have a re-think on how many Indians watch this sport. (oh my God, that is a story idea!) This is not to say that the Indian government should pull all stops to host a grand prix race; just that maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see what a sport like this offers to a country’s tourism industry.