Bernie: New owners want to erase me from history

Bernie who?

 

MARCH 21, 2017

Ousted Ecclestone couldn't change says Carey



New F1 chief Chase Carey says he is still in contact with his ousted predecessor Bernie Ecclestone.

But his comments are at odds with the news from 86-year-old Ecclestone himself, as he told the Daily Star newspaper that he is not "worried that these people have not bothered to contact me".

Carey told another British newspaper, The Times, that he speaks with the Briton "once or twice a week" to get "invaluable" insights about the sport he has taken over.

Since being ousted, Ecclestone has given a couple of interviews in which he said Liberty Media initially wanted him to stay as chief executive, only for Carey to take full control immediately.

Carey now tells the Times: "As I looked at it and the way he controlled every decision, down to a paddock pass, it seemed to be really difficult to envisage, having done it for so long, that he could change."

Ecclestone, who is officially 'chairman emeritus', revealed that he will shortly speak with the Brazilian president about race funding, and then attend about half of this year's grands prix.

He said: "I don't bear grudges and I would have been happy to help and I think I could save people a lot of time and money with lots of valuable contacts. But they clearly don't want my advice."

Carey admits losing his role in F1 must be difficult for Ecclestone.

"I assume it's difficult or awkward for him as it was his life. I respect that. We clearly do want to run the business in a different way," he said.

 

Anybody taking odds his wife will want a divorce now?

 

Who knows what's in the prenup

 

kidnapping seems to be the "Modus Operandi" when it comes to this couple????

 

Liberty Media didn't buy F1 because it was a failure and dying on its arse! - They bought it because it was a successful, money making business, so Bernie must have been doing something right.

As for people blaming Bernie for all of the problems with F1 today - Perhaps if they knew their F1 history a little better then they'd realise that Bernie's direct influence on the cars and the racing pretty much ended when Max Mosely left the sport, a prime example of that being the much disliked hybrid power-units. Bernie didn't want them, but the manufacturers did, and the FIA under Jean Todt went with them. No sooner did these power-units hit the track than Bernie called for them to be got rid of, but his opinions were ignored by the manufacturers and the FIA. Back in the old days, if Bernie had said the power-units would have to go - They would have gone!

Liberty Media? - They're a bit like Donald Trump being President of the USA: They've only been in charge for two minutes, and so far no real changes have been made yet, there's just a lot of talk. And as with Trump, some of what is being suggested is going to upset the apple cart!

For example, they're already risking upsetting Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren with talk of getting rid of their bonuses and having a system whereby all of the teams get an equal amount of money for participating in the sport.

Well that all sounds very nice, especially if you're one of the smaller teams, but how many fans tune in to watch teams such as Force India, Sauber or Toro Rosso compared to Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren?

How much of F1's annual $1.5Billion revenue was generated by Force India, Sauber or Toro Rosso, compared to Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren?

Which teams have helped generate the most interest in the sport? - Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso? or Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren?

Which teams create all of the headlines in the sport pages that gets F1 noticed?

Paying more money to the top teams for what they provide the sport is no different to teams having to pay more money in order to have the top drivers in their car.

In essence, what Liberty Media are hoping to do with payments to the teams would be the equivalent of drivers such as Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso being told: "You're all going to be paid no more than Pascal Wehrlein because you all do the same job, you are all just drivers!".

The reason why those four teams get paid their bonuses is because 1) They've shown a genuine, guaranteed commitment to remain in the sport, which none of the smaller teams have, and 2) They're the teams that generate the most interest in F1.

Next Liberty Media and Ross Brawn want to ditch the hybrid power-units and go back to the old V8's or even V10's because they make more noise! So again, that risks upsetting the likes of Mercedes and Renault, who want the technology in F1 to have some relevance to road car technology.

So with those two ideas alone, F1 could lose Ferrari, Mercedes, and Renault, and possibly Red Bull too! - And let's be honest here: None of those four teams really need to be in F1 any more! They would all survive perfectly well without F1!

Now I don't know that much about the finances of F1, but I'm willing to bet that if F1 lost Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, it would no longer be making @ $1.5 Billion per year any more!

Then there's Liberty Media's idea of putting on more street races in places such as London and Las Vegas, and making F1 week long events. That to Me says that Liberty Media are far more concerned about putting on a show, rather than putting on a race - And that might not be as good for the sport as some seem to think it will be!

To all the people stating how much better F1 will be under Liberty Media compared to Bernie, I'd say: Let's just wait and see what they're going to do with the sport, and where they're going to to take it before we canonise them as being F1's miracle saviour, because there's a good chance that the sport could go tits up under their ownership!


As for Bernie: I too wish he would just go away, but not for the reasons that everyone else here seems to want him to go away for.

I want him to simply drop everything to do with the sport instantly, so that all those at Liberty Media currently slating how he ran things, and boasting about how they will run the sport so much better, will have to work out everything to do with F1 from scratch on their own! - Now that would be fun to watch!

 

So, what is you point, if you have any ??

LOL

 

Weird.

 

+1

Maybe he is Bernie's PR guy?

 

Bernie who?

 

Bernie had a vision for F1 and it no longer has validity. Hence races that have left or will leave. Liberty bought a company that made a given sum and has the potential to make more. Its a gamble as in all things biz related.

I wish them the best but Bernie might want to let Liberty get on with it and let go. He's done, accomplished all he could and F1 will continue and the question is in what form or formula composition.

The only people who made money overall were CVC and associated partners like Bernie. It was certainly not the promoters. That business model has failed. Period.

 

The FIA in general (not only Todt, or Mosley, or Ballestre) hasn't acted in the best interest of motorsport at large by selling the commercial rights its several world championships (Formula 1, WRC or WEC).

Motorsport is perhaps better organised, more flamboyant, better regulated but the public is gradually losing out to commercial interests. At the beginning it's euphoria, but slowing Liberty seems to close all the loopholes to stop the fans to follow F1 for free.

Also, if one day Liberty stops making the money they expect, they may drop F1 and leave it in a far worst state than they found it. We may be years away from that, but it's a possibility.

More or less, the FIA has sold its soul to the devil, in a way.

 

We'll find out if that is true or not over the next 2-3 years won't we?

It could be worse. The likes of an Uncle Sweater or some other bean counter would be worse...

 

Today's Top Gear episode had a pretty nice interview with Bernie. He hopes Ferrari wins this year, but doesn't think it will happen. He said Formula 1 is Ferrari and Ferrari is Formula 1...a special team. The other topics discussed were interesting.

 

Bernie sucks.....Gilles should have punched him when he was about to...

 

Sanders?

 

Madoff?

 

Crook. Scammer. Con artist.

 

Much like everything in F1, yesterday's history is quickly forgotten. Bernie is the past. The sport has moved on. Time for Bernie to lick his wounds, count his millions and enjoy his retirement. It's over.

 

Villeneuve? I don't know the story.

 

APRIL 26, 2017

Ecclestone sends message to new F1 bosses



Bernie Ecclestone has lobbed an apparent threat in the direction of F1's new regime.

The sport's long-time supremo was ousted amid the recent takeover by Liberty, replaced by new CEO Chase Carey and deputy chiefs Ross Brawn and Sean Bratches.

86-year-old Ecclestone, in turn, was given the largely honorary role of 'chairman emeritus'.

"I said the trouble with all sort of animals is if you want to kill them, you have to kill them -- don't wound them," Ecclestone has told the BBC motoring programme Top Gear.

Asked by interviewer Eddie Jordan if that is a "little message" to Liberty about his disempowered role, he answered: "It depends how people want to take meanings, doesn't it?"

As for his new role as chairman emeritus, billionaire Ecclestone continued: "I don't know. It's a little bit like giving a hit man a gun and no bullets.

"But I've got enough money to buy the bullets."

 

The reality is that no one needs Bernie and that the show is going on quite well without him. I'm sure he expected everything to fall apart in his absence. Now that it hasn't, he's pissed off.

 

Bernie is now inconsequential and his EGO won't let him realize that
And his threats further alienate him from Liberty - IMO

 

Please tell the story, I've not heard about this.
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Short version, in 1982 drivers were on strike for the South African g.p, because Bernie and other team owners wanted to basicly "own" the drivers. The drivers refused and went on strike..at a certain point, Bernie said that if they didn't show up, he would bring drivers from lower formulas and replace them all for the race...saying nobody cared about them, fans were there for the cars....Gilles disagreed saying he was wrong, that people were there to see him drive...he also said that if tomorrow the money was gone from g.p, Bernie and all the other politicians would be gone, but he and the other drivers would still show up to drive!!!...so basicly things escalated and from what i heard Gilles had to be restrained by others to prevent him from "getting his hands dirty" on Bernie's face