There once was a time when he seemed like a good guy. Now...I dunno F1 News - Ecclestone on European races: Whatever goes, goes
please, somebody just shot him....The man is senil for a long, long time, he has been destroying f.1 for decades....too bad Gilles didn´t break his face when he got the chance.....
He's just he drug dealer. the drug is Money, and the teams are addicts as well as CVC... he's like Jessie Pinkman he uses a bit too.... Ferrari is particularrly addicted, and now that they will be public ... the wall street analysts will start to drive profits, and expectations... I can only say that I;m so thankful that I lived when F-1 was F-1(1967 - 1994)
Surprised someone has not hired a Sicilian actuary to take care of the Bernie problem. Tony Soprano would have the guy whacked...but Tony is dead (heart attack) years ago.
I've defended bernie plenty of times but even I have to admit his statements in the last few weeks makes me think he's going a tad senile.
Even after the vetting Europe will have 8 of the 19 races. Perhaps over saturation and a dilution of the fan base has as much to do with Bernie's logic. Reading between the lines... maybe he feels there needs to be less events concentrated in one area. Greed certainly is a factor but Bernie hardly has that vice to himself. Plenty of blame to go around.
There are only two criteria to hosting an F1 race; 1) have Tilke design or improve the track (of course there is no kickback to Bernie), 2) pay whatever the current tariff Bernie can extract. There is no history, no tradition, no loyalty, it is strictly a case of maximizing Bernie's take. So Baku and Sochi are now on the circuit for 2016 because they ponied up. If Ulna Bator, Timbuktu, Nome, Reykjavik and Khartoum can meet or exceed the going rate, they could well replace Barcelona, Monza, Hungary, Austria and CoTA could be last years news.
People were complaining about the political staging of Putin during the Russian GP but it seems that F1 can just be held on circuits with government background as private operated tracks are not able to make money out of the race anymore thanks to the greed of some...So we can expect to see more and more races like Sochi in future... It seems that Ecclestone does not really care about his legacy but prefers his current income over it, not caring what F1 might look like in 10-20 years...
+1 Although, I don't think he's loosing it & remains as sharp as a tack. I want to believe it's just "Bernie being Bernie", who never says anything without some kind of ulterior motive if it suits his agenda. Whatever that may be..... Having said that, I thought we'd see a "last minute rescue" (possibly with Merc behind it?) to keep Germany on the calendar too, so I could be wrong. His comments about the new 'Ring owners overpaying and "forgetting that they need to pay the loans back" are maybe a little sour grapes, but the man remains smart - I can't help thinking if he'd have bought it we'd still have a GP there..... But no Monza? He seems to be pointing his finger primarily at the short sighted team owners more than anyone else, and I think he may have a point. Sure, CVC taking the cream off the top isn't helping, but it's not like they're not all receiving many, many 10's of millions per after all. I'm surprised nobody has picked up on this little gem from the other day; Maybe he is going a little bonkers! Ecclestone proposing F1 championship for women - Pitpass.com Cheers, Ian
Exactly what doomed the French Grand Prix to oblivion. After the last one, in 2008, when Bernie said: "no more Magny-cours", the french governement seized the occasion to then say: "no more public money to fund the deficit, if Mr E. is not at least participating somehow". Then they masqueraded for three or four years with different plans and comittees, to work on a return, but nothing cames out of it. With the change of governement in 2012, the idea was revived, only for the new government to say the same thing again: "not one euro of public money to subside Mr E and his acolytes...". The principle is still enforced today, and will remain so: the french Grand Prix is now almost forgotten, and no-one wants it to be resuscited in the future. Rgds
Euro value can't be helping. Unrest in Frankfurt, albeit small, is also a factor. Germans are tired of bailing out Greece and other Euro beneficiaries. It's a bit of a perfect storm. Bernie's unbridled greed is the biggest factor, though.
Why did it stop in '94? The 95-2000 seasons were freaking brilliant. Still had all the good European races too.
Not really...We are talking about some million Euros..If the government wants to it would not be a problem, they have spent money on the new (unfinished) airport in Berlin that would finance the German GP for the next hundred years. It is just that (unlike with football) the public is not willing to spend money on a sport the majority does not care about and the fact that some others are making serious money with that does not help, especially after Ecclestone was in the press because of bribery. I guess the only chance would be Mercedes sponsoring a home GP just as RB does in Spielberg...Would also be the solution for France if Renault would step in.
I suspect he was referring specifically to 1st May 1994. Many believe that was the terrible day when it all changed. RIP to the best. Ian
I catch a lot of flack for this, but I still think to this day if Senna didn't pass, Schumacher wouldn't have 7 WDC's and Senna would have 5 or 6 before he retired.
I might catch flack for this, but I think Schumacher was better so he would still have the same amount had Senna lived.
well, to be honest 94 aND 95 would be difficult to say becau ewilliams would have had a great driver instead of a crap one....
F1 is a business, and bernie runs it like one, like him or hate him for that... but this is a high risk business (not only for the drivers and teams, but also those invested) one poorly planned race weekend could set the dominos in motion and the whole series could come crashing down. the fees are not a secret, anyone who wants to host a race already knows the price
The NY/NJ race won't happen because there is no government money for a car race and there is no hope of breaking even without a huge subsidy.
There has to be a balance. Monaco is said to have no licensing fees. Germany is a very important race to many of the drivers and the dominant team and that teams supply of engines to others. To cut the throat of a German GP for a few shekels is fools play. Bernie doesn't like the deal in entirety ? Well suck it up big boy and deal with it next year. Whats this crap about the show must go on ? Everyone compromises except His Lowness.
