Is it a conflict?

When It comes to F1 and "Conflict of interest" look no further than Burnie...

 

What's that Sorry a little old lady 100 yards away just dropped a penny and bernie is wresteling her for it.... Come on Gran ma bite him back!!

 

I would think it could become a conflict of interest. If it weren't for F1, but in the real biz world one would probably question Briatore. Oh wait, they didn't care about Cheney's oil involvements either. Maybe not.

OTOH I think Flabbio wants to make the most $$$ so he is probably doing the right thing. Honestly I give the guy a lot of credit, after all he was fast and slick enough to get MS and his Benetton team going. Not bad for a de facto outsider of the biz (his background was in marketing).

Now as far as Bernie goes: Where is the conflict of interest? No, I'm not THAT naive (just a bit), but he actually sold his Brabham team to run F1 his way. Sure that freed up some of his time, but also resolved a conflict of interest. Say what you want about Bernie (and I don't agree on all he does), but for the most part he is a benevolent dictator. He is probably making too much money off the TV rights, but then again it was him who is holding F1 together and made it what it is today (with all the negatives that come with that). I do believe him, when he says the team bosses are too egoistic and would run F1 into the ground.

Think about Bernie this way: The guy is one of the richest guys in the UK (has btw one of the coolest Ferrari collections in the world). He has a lovely wife and all the luxury you can imagine. Why would he still at 70+ go through the grind? Because he loves it and believes in it. And because he keeps saying that nobody else has showed up to run it. And I think that is sadly true. Mosley is an idiot. Some of the team bosses have the smarts (Dennis, Williams, Montezemolo), but they have their own interests.

But the question remains: Who can run it after Bernie? Please not another Tony George or F1 will become a footnote in racing history.

 

I know it is a sad thing what has happened to open wheel racing here


Tony George killed both series

 

It truly is. I'm first and foremost a F1 fan, but did love CART because it was what F1 used to be about 15 years ago (before Bernie began the commercialization, as I said, he also brought bad stuff to the deal).

I could even have warmed up to IRL as their aspirated engines were somewhat like F1, but not as long as they just drive in ovals and have (because of that) second class drivers. Ok, they got better ones now because CART is dying.

I hope Tony is happy and proud when he sees his demented NASCAR cars racing in the Indy oval.

 

Gee I thought this post was about me just purchasing a Toyota family car ... now who am I supposed to root for when watching F1!!!!

Now if Toyota start winning, or improving atleast, then I might purchase a Toyota F1 sticker for the rear window ... but I still a Ferrari F1 man 100%

Pete

 

My girlfriend has a Camry, but I'm still a tifosi. If Ferrari would ever drop out of F1 though, those Celicas would start to look mighty good...