Word 'round the campfire

It is possible. It is also crazy.

 

How do I hire a hit man?

Pete

 

They're $60/hr down the Cross and I think it is the only humane way to get rid of the old lech

Be a shame though to send him out on a high

Actually I'm jealous of him, a bloke with that much money could have a new girl every night but at his age he'd go under pretty quickly I think ?

 

while the premise of selling then rebuying your company at a lower price isnt unheard of, packer, bond(?) and ch9 spring to mind. To do so by plan sounds very risky while im sure it has/does happen f1 seems much more risky just by the nature of the business. Real question is what would he gain from doing so, he already has more money than he ever needs as well as full control the risk to reward just doesnt make sense

 

Sure, it's within the realm of possibilities. However, he runs a tremendous risk that, by devaluing the sport, he'll flush out too many of the necessary manufacturers he'll need to rebuild it. Don't forget that the threat of a breakaway series isn't yet in the grave. Also, Bernie's no spring chicken. To properly carry out a plan that severe would require a lot of time and extreme amounts of energy. I doubt he fancies either.

 

What happened to the old tradition of telling ghost stories around the campfire ... people are now talikng about Bernie .... He's scary but not that scary!

 

Sadly no one sees what Bernie has done for F1 and motorsport in general. Do not get me wrong. I don't agree with manytings he does. But, without him I doubt F1 would have been the truley global form of motorsport that it is today.

Did you ever think there would have been a F1 GP in the desert oasis of Bahrain? Did you ever think there would have been a F1 GP in communist Shanghai? These things don't materialize out of thin air. Bernie has earned money in the process. I am sure you would have earned the same kind of money if you owned F1 and worked as hard as he has. Or maybe money is not important to you and you think F1 can run on charity, like at Silverstone.

 

Utter BS, F1 was a truely global sport before Bernie. Used to race in South Africa as well, etc.

The motorsport Sun does not shine out of Bernie's @rse ... that is simply what he wants you to think.

Infact Bernie killed the Group B sportscar racing series which is what the 959 and 288GTO were built for. That would have brought sportscars and Le Mans back to life big time ... which ofcourse would have threatened his lovely money making F1 series.

Please, please read some history books before making such comments.

Cheers
Pete

 

also Silverstone is run by the BRDC which was formed to promote ALL motorsport, NOT just the ONE weekend a year in the UK.

Bernie is just being a greedy little gnome and has done nothing but line his and several OTHER greedy individuals pockets.

Ferrari could give a stuff if Bernie was there or not, they race to win and always have and the sooner this little ferret has gone the better for the sport.

The sport really needs Ferrari and if they leave how many people would care less .... 50% I'd say from the following on and off the track and garden gnome knows it which is why the rules are always leaning towards the red team

 

Do not criticize someone's work unless you can do a better job. I know for certain that you could never do a better job than Bernie because you have not done it yet. It takes will and determination to achieve what Bernie has been able to achieve.

Go work on your Alfa and race go karts around the track. Leave F1 to the big players before making such comments.

 

Imperial,

Bernie is a just a grubby little used car dealer who did nothing but line his pockets. I think he just saw an opportunity to take the sport away from FISA when everyone was pi55ed at JMBalestre and get the tv rights to play power games by hoodwinking the FOC while he was a small time player with Brabham.

There are several books on Bernie, read them and tell me he is the great person you think he is, coz he ain't.

Geez, you guys will be defending Hitler next, you don't judge a man by the size of his wallet !

Bernie is just taking F1 to places where cigarette advertising isn't banned and there is a huge market for the tobacco industry, which is what distesses me about the Australian GP....we don't allow tobacco advertising but dueto the huge cash flow from the GP the govt turns a blind eye to it, hypocrites!

 

Well, if you actually read my first comment you will see that I am not defending Bernie. I do not agree with many things he has done. But I will give credit where it is due. The man siezed the opportunity to make F1 his own.

It is people like PSK that think this whole world is out to get them. If he thinks he can do a better job, let hime start his own Formula racing series. Don't sit their and complain. Don't like F1, don't follow F1, no one is forcing you to watch the races or follow the f1 news.

 

Imperial,

"""Sadly no one sees what Bernie has done for F1 and motorsport in general. Do not get me wrong. I don't agree with manytings he does. But, without him I doubt F1 would have been the truley global form of motorsport that it is today."""""

I did read it and although I disagree with PSK on the F1 enjoyment level he is right that F1 was global long before Weekend at Bernie's turned up.

You may not have seen the races that use to be in the US at Long Beach, Watkins Glen, Las Vegas carpark, Kyalami in S.Africa, Argentina, Portugal, god the list goes on forever.

Seriously all Bernie is doing is introducing tobacco to new markets, he only cares about money not us.

I am like you , in that I only want to see the red cars win and Bernie wanted this too as Ferrari draws most of the fans but the dominance is killing it slowly even though attendances are up, there has to be a saturation point (for the other fans) and even die hard Ferrari fans need a break from all the trophies (I can take it for about 5 more years )

Now how far will we win by this weekend

bugger you Pete, I wanna win the rest and stick it right up RD's arse, he's such a wet blanket

 

Bernie faces other challenges at the moment: There are some trials coming up where he is facing fraud charges for the way his tangled web of companies and ownership percentages is made. Can't say much more after I read a full article about it, it gets very complex. Had to so he could create a monopoly amongst the EU's antimonopoly laws and for tax reasons.

Given that and the break away series and his age, I would think his focus is on other things at the moment.

 

got a copy of the article Andreas ?

 

Sorry, I tossed it. I believe it was in "The Economist" a few weeks back.

What amazed me most was, that the author was able to untangle the mess deliberately put together by Bernie. He did about every clichee you could think of if you're thinking drug or Mafia money: Corporations in Zug, subcorporations, holding corporations in Liechtenstein, Cayman bank accounts, off shore anything, the whole schpiel. But it was more complex than that: CEO and board member votes were split and divided amongst his buddies and family members and his lawyers and bankers.

The long and short of it was, that the stockholders to his TV right company didn't get the power they were supposed to and Bernie gets into trouble.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

 

Imperial,

I think you live in America ... thus you live in a democracy. Do you vote?, I know it is voluntary in the USA.

Unless you don't vote, then bugger off with that 'do not criticise someone's work unless you can do a better job' BS comment.

A democracy works by us lowly people criticising and asking for improvement by the people that run our countries ... and there is no way that I am going to sit back and say nothing about MY sport F1 ... just because I am not running the show.

Also when Bernie asked for OUR opinion a couple of years ago, and you could send messages to the FIA ... guess what mate, I did. I got off my @rse and given the opportunity to share my opinion with the FIA regarding F1 ... I did. Did you?

BTW: When I used to club race ... guess what, I went to every fncken series meeting to ensure that it went in the direction I wanted it to go in ... to make sure that my considerable investment was not wasted, by a series collapsing, etc.

Also when my cars were unable to race, I supported my sport by flag marshalling when ever I could ... do you? I no longer do this, but having recently joined the NSW Alfa Romeo club (was a member of the NZ Alfa Romeo Owners Club for 18 years or something and now have my Alfa in Australia ...), I do hope that soon I will be able to start giving back to the sport again ... time permitting.

Criticism is a good thing NOT a bad thing, and most mature people realise this. How else can you improve, if you are not constantly critical of oneself and those working with you, the processes, etc.

And also:

I do not think that ... I am just concerned at the current direction of F1. My passion is motorracing. F1 is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorracing ... and I want it to stay that way.

You say you are a F1 and Ferrari fan, and yet you have not even delved into the rich history of either the sport or Ferrari. I have no problem with anybody being new to F1, but you owe the sport the respect of atleast, having a quick look back at the old days to fully understand the sport. That is what normal enthusiasts do when they get interested in something.

When I got interested in Alfa Romeo as a kid ... I did not just look at the cars I could see, I went to the library ... and read and read more and more about what Alfa Romeo is and how it came to be where it is today. That is what enthusiasts do. In the process I fell in love completely with the view and passion Italians have with motorracing. Yes I was already involved with motorsport, thanks to my father being chief flag marshall at our local track, etc. but it was my new found passion of Italian automobiles that cemented by motorracing enthusiasm.

Yes you are entitled to your opinion, and yes you can accept that the Sun does indeed shine out of Bernie's @rse, but others too are allowed to have their feet on the ground and discuss reality.

Respectively
Pete

 

... yep go Ferrari.

And yes I want the same ... the only difference is I want McLaren to improve next year, so we can beat them again and beat a worthy opponent. Currently its like watching somebody beat a puppy with a big stick ... not that I have ever seen that, just making a point

Hows the 328 looking BTW.

Pete

 

Being critical about something is one thing. Being critical to the point of paranoia is another.

 

Referring to post #1;

Business as usual.

 

Agreed. Lately because of many things we have been talking a lot about the future of F1 ... this usually ends up involving Bernie.

As you know I strongly believe Bernie is not involved (anymore) in F1 for the sports sake, but now because he is getting off on his ability to out play everybody and make massive profits. I can understand the fun and feeling of satisfaction that must be for him ... but his core focus should be to ensure the future of F1 as a sport. Once the sport desolves completely, F1 will fail very shortly afterwards. I have watched this happen with sports in Australia, like Rugby League ... which tried to become a fancy show, and died completely. They had to scrap the idea and return to the old ways ... and it took years to recover from.

I seriously wish I could talk to Bernie, hear his views ... but living in Australia makes it very difficult.

I'm not paranoid, just passionate

Pete

 

You can find a link to the article here: "The Economist" article on F-1 "Chicanery"



Or, if you're super lazy, here is the direct link: Chicanery in Formula One? Aug 26th 2004 From The Economist print edition


Greg A

p.s. Don't be afraid of the search function.

 

Thanks Greg, already found it but much appreciated anyway.

I wonder what the pre-nup was like for these pair ?? Interesting to say the least.