Ecclestone hits back at teams over rules

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Bernie Ecclestone has hit back at the F1 teams after seeing his plans for a ‘most wins’ based championship system fail:

That’s the problem with democracy. These teams couldn’t agree with themselves let alone each other. The simple fact is that because the sporting regs are out the FIA cannot do anything for now, but we will do next year. There is nothing the teams can do about it then. For now it’s just a shame that fans, the sporting public, may not see the kind of racing they would have done under the system I put forward.

You have to question his grasp of the facts on reading this.

The teams did agree among themselves, and proposed a new championship points system only 16 days ago which the FIA chose to ignore in favour of its own.

The FIA could have brought in the 12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1 system because that had the full support of the teams.

And his appeal to “the fans” seems completely out of touch with what most of them actually want. The reaction to the ‘most wins’ system on this site was overwhelmingly negative.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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51 comments on “Ecclestone hits back at teams over rules”

  1. The reaction everywhere I have seen has been negative as well.

    1. Bernie has done a lot for formula 1, and is use to being a visionary for the sport. In the later years it is obvious that he has been struggling to make the correct decisions, and it would be frightening for formula 1 if he is truly oblivious of it. Old age is a fact of life no matter how much money you have. Please Bernie, toss in the towel, slap on your depends and allow another visionary to bring formula 1 into the next decade.

      Bernie’s chokehold on f1 rights is limiting access by the fans. Video game publishers have given up because of the expenses of licensing which is incredibly frustrating, and the official formula 1 website is a pathetic attempt push his propaganda. If he’s not willing to face the facts and give the fans what they want, Formula 1 is never going to reach its full potential.

  2. it would seem Bernie can’t have all that many marbles left to lose these days!

  3. The old man is going crazy and losing grip with the reality of F1. Hopefully his new system will never come in, and it was just an FIA muscle flexing exercise to annoy FOTA.

  4. So he intends to carry on with his delusions, how sad and pathetic.

    Also why haven’t the F1 website published the results for the medals survey they did a few months ago?

  5. It’s statements like these that show you just how deluded the old man actually is! I cannot wait for him to retire from F1 (although I’m starting to think that day will never come) so we can have some decent rules and not a battle betweent the teams and the FIA.

  6. He still lives in XX century – and thanks to him entire sport is still in XX century (80’s maybe)when it comes to fans, public relation, media and such. I think it wont be a lie when ill say: F1 dont know internet yet.

  7. Wouldn’t you love to visit Bernie’s crack just to see the place where he gets all his chat from?

    Coming from the man who thought Grand Prix’s were sold out for the upcoming year.

  8. Bigbadderboom
    21st March 2009, 11:49

    He is digging a himself one hell of a hole, we do joke but is he really loosing it….The man has a lot on his plate right now including his missus taking half his cash!!! He is a control freak out of control He has a bit of a driver rebelion, a teams rebelion and the fans look like we have lost faith!!
    And now we are being TOLD what we will enjoy! The arragonce is astounding!!!

    1. I concur, for the first time in his life his plans haven’t worked in his favour.

      He made a bid for Honda, didn’t work
      He tried to dispel FOTA, didn’t work

      only reason he made a bid for honda is so that he was elligible to be at FOTA meetings.

  9. they should go for the 12, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points system, that way the driver who wins gets a three point advantage over the second place man = more insentive to win…the “winner takes it all” thing was a bad idea (sorry bernie) the championship wuld have been decided, i think, long before the final race of the season. + consistancy is not rewarded on that basis either eg. someone could have the odd race win here and there (be unconsistant) and win the championship, compared to someone who could finish 2nd in every race, and get little reward.

  10. For now it’s just a shame that fans, the sporting public, may not see the kind of racing they would have done under the system I put forward.

    So, the rest of the world is wrong… That’s the problem with democracy, Bernie.

    Before returning back here with more ideas…
    …you should buy a dessert and sweep it!!!

  11. There is nothing the teams can do about it then.

    Classic. Is there a grown-up version of Formula 1 anywhere?

  12. Arrogant Bernie… May be you can rename the sport as Bernie racing and do whatever you wish (also inform FIA, the teams are completely with you on that… of course, we’ve another idiot sitting there to do it). With your idiotic ideas, F1 can’t be the best of its kind.

  13. Sounds to me as though Bernie’s furious. That has to be a sign that FOTA is getting to him. Go FOTA!

  14. He’s acting like a spoilt child.

    The 12-9-7 points system would be much fairer and give greater edge to the guy who wins the races, and I would agree a better way to go. But basing it on a badly thought up version of his gold-silver-bronze idea takes the mickey out of the drivers, the teams, and us fans.

    One day the FIA/FOM corruption will stop…

  15. The FIA orginally changed the points system as a way to stop ferrari And Shumi winning by such a large margin. if they had left the points difference between 1 and 2 then the man with the most wins would naturally win the championship usually

  16. It seems like Bernie lives in his own world. From his release it seems like he has no knowledge of the proposal put forth by FOTA. He keeps saying that the teams can’t on anything. The WMSC release the other day stated that they voted against the FOTA proposal. It’s really weird how the whole F1 system works with Bernie having such a stake in the company and only being cared about making money for CVC. I do agree that the sport would be better off if the teams owned more of it.

  17. It’s a shame that the enourmously intelligent and powerful Bernie Ecclestone’s ability to make quick, positive decisions has left him in the last year or so.

    His decisions and comments are making less sense by the week, and he can’t control the sport as he could up to a couple of years ago.

    He has by himself created a fantastic show for us all, and held it together with an iron fist, but it is clearly time for him to step aside, and let someone else carry the reigns.

    He has lost touch with the fan-base, the circuits, and the teams, and is looking increasingly less powerful.

    I don’t want to insult such a great man, but I hope he realises it’s time to go now, and not pull the sport back down with him, as he battles to keep total control, when it is not possible any more.

  18. tEQUILLA sLAMMER
    21st March 2009, 15:03

    Everybody has taken exception to Bernies “winner takes all” concept for 1 reason !! And that is the fact that through the FIA Bernie has tried to implement this change far too late for everybody to be comfortable with it!!! But when you really think about it from his racing viewpoint, it makes perfect sense!!! I think the way he has “railroaded” this change so close to the start of the season has given the teams too little time to rethink and redesign their overall approach to their strategies for the impending campaign! Its a fair concept from a racers point of view, “winner takes all”, and you measure the season over who wins the most as opposed to who is the most reliable thereby scoring the most points. But, 1 mans meat is another mans poison, so we will all have to wait and see how people feel about it by 2010, as from what he says, Bernie definitely wants the winner takes all rule for then!!! #:)

  19. Just make everything the same as it was 10 – 15 years ago…

  20. why do the FIA have to make changes?… have the not been watching the last two seasons?

  21. Wow. Sounding a bit bitter there, Mr. Ecclestone.

    If he keeps insisting on being the proverbial spanner in the works, could we see a modern-day version of the FISA-FOCA war…? And is it out of the realms of possibility to have a Formula One Fans Association?

    (For the record, I cautiously believe that his proposed system could have worked, but that FOTA’s proposed system was better.)

    1. Great idea – who’s going to start one?

    2. I think Keith should run such an association and it should be called F1fanatic.

  22. Bernie and Mo could not have proposed such crazy ideas without a purpose. They knew there was going to be outrage, but must have calculated that FOTA could be split, taking into account the risk of a breakaway series – perhaps trying to make it easy to lure new teams into the F1 name if the existing ones leave.

    I might be imagining conspiracy theories or something, but I really believe that Bernie and Mo are too smart to do such a dumb thing as the recent proposals

  23. Does anyone really think that Max and Bernie didn’t realize they were proposing something that was procedurally incorrect?

    I think it was all a smoke screen to distract from the budget cap questions for next year.

    If Max truly had no idea he was stepping on his own rules then he really cut his own throat election wise come this October. And we should be grateful for his own arrogance catching up with himself.

  24. Now i think I’m beginning to get the rationale behind all those rule changes. It has nothing to do with well being of F1, making it a better show etc. Bernie is desperately trying to hold on to the fact that he is the master in F1 when it clearly is no longer true. Teams have most power now and they will still have in the near future. This most wins idea wont come in 2010 either.

  25. everytime, it’s ‘bernie hits back’, ‘bernie retaliates’, ‘bernie strikes’ etc etc etc…enough already. just shut your mouth

  26. theRoswellite
    21st March 2009, 17:52

    Please permit my presumption. I awoke at 4am this morning and the following came out (must have had a bad night’s sleep).

    It is a little take on our friends Bernie and Max.

    OUR TWO HEADED MONSTER

    From open beak one tongue extending
    Repeats in call the shriek unending,
    “I am the law, I am the ending,
    I have your heart, I have your spending.”

    L’etat c’est moi.

    While the second head in tilt displays
    An eye transfixed in stolid gaze,
    Upon the knot where it doth sit
    With claws sunk deep in legal writ.

    L’etat c’est moi.

    This bird of body girth unending
    Can only flop in flight pretending.
    While it’s two heads on necks entwined,
    Spin round about, unravel then rewind.

    L’etat c’est moi.

    Is this our future, this our past,
    To stand forever with pleas held fast,
    And our reward, just duff and feather dander
    Falling from our own, this Uber-Overlander.

    L’etat c’est moi.

    “THE STATE, IT IS I.”

  27. What other sport allows the commercial rights holder to make so many decisions? Bernie should leave the politics alone and concentrate on providing what fans want, like HD coverage and enhanced internet experiences. Leave the regulations to the people who actually have to fork out to run the teams….

    1. I could say it loudly but not more clearly.

      100% Agree.

    2. Agree totally. I’ve said it before, the poison drawf’s job is to arrange races. Nothing else. This comment though is intersting “but we will do next year. There is nothing the teams can do about it then”.

      We, Bernie? Are you part of the FIA now? I know S&Max is in your pocket but I don’t beleive even that gives you offical capacity in the FIA(L).

  28. I wonder what F1 would be like if Bernie had complete say over every aspect of the sport. Do you think it would still be worth watching…

  29. Bigbadderboom
    21st March 2009, 20:55

    Lets not forget what Bernie has done for our sport, its profile is massive, it’s appeal is worldwide, its fan base is encouraged to debate as we do. However it is apparent to all that there is a need for more clarity and transparence in all that governs F1. I say thanks to Bernie but it is obvious to most that the time has come to pass on a lot of the responsibility. Bernie is no longer the ring master of F1 and there is a real risk of F1 becoming the WWF of the motorsport world. The last thing we all want is for F1 to become a joke. We need our own governing body compromising of ex drivers, team owners and fans.

  30. I read this in the sun earlier, found it pretty funny. They portrayed the turnaround as an embarrassment, as it is, so the FIA’s versoin of events isn’t standing up too well. But they didn’t mention the system agreed by fota in the bit where bernie said the teams were arguing. Still, I’m glad that on the whole the FIA has come up looking silly, not just here, but in the national press too.

  31. Bernie really is demented. He has lost total touch with the F1 teams, Fans, Sponsers. No one wanted most wins nonsense but all the fans and teams agreed to alter the scoring system as this article mentions so why did they not go for that? simply because Bernie wants to feel important. I reckon this year will see plenty good scraps thanks very much. And i cant beleive Mosely is already talking about stewards getting involved in the diffuser row in Melbourne. I just cant stand all this after race enquiry nonsense. Looking forward to melbourne though.

  32. the FIA cannot do anything for now, but we will do next year. There is nothing the teams can do about it then

    Erm… yes there is Bernard… they can up sticks and leave your joke vision of a world class international motor racing championship.

  33. And we wonder why Honda quit? With an attitude as bad
    as Bernie’s, the only cars he get to play with soon will be made by Tonka!
    $500 million a season a top flight F1 team forks out to compete in ‘the circus’, and gets bad mouthed and
    belittled as if they are idiots. Well maybe they are
    Mr Ecclestone, maybe they are for doing business with
    a short tempered second hand car dealer like you.
    If I were an invester, I would tell him to kiss both sides of my ****!

  34. What is Martin Brundle up to? Does he need a new job?

  35. Formula One Fans Association???? Anyone?

  36. To Richard Merk: I hope you don´t mind, but I have quoted you in an article on F1 News Update. Find it on Facebook:-)

  37. From what I get, the man helped put F1 on new levels over his time. Now he seems to be someone who has lost favor. Everyone one seems to want him and Max out. OK I get that, Now WHO replaces them. I have heard some one the Teams to run the sport. Look at CART/CCW to see how that worked out. So who would be good replacements?

  38. “It’s logic – you go to the athletics and you look at the 100 metres, you’re not looking at the guy that’s second, you’re looking at the winner,” said Ecclestone. “In most sports people are looking at winners

    “The whole idea was nothing to do with winning the world championship, the idea was to make sure people raced to win in every race, not to be second or third and collect points.”

    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73840
    Why there is world championship in first place then?

  39. “I’m hoping we can get 26 cars [in 2010], that’s how it used to be. I think one of the engine manufacturers has got four orders already. The thing that disturbs me a bit is that there will have to be pre-qualifying.”

    Why? Why Bernie, why? what’s wrong with having 26 cars on the track at once? Are your Tilkedromes still not long and wide enough? If you have 26 competitors… let 26 competitors race, fer’ crying out loud!

    I do despair.

  40. wasted opportunity to see if it did work. whingers get their way. who said f1 should be a democracy. it needs men with vision and balls. ive seen what happens when “fans” get their way and it isnt pretty. its easy to dislike ecclestone, its less easy to see beyond the first line of trees. hope your happy seeing drivers pootle round settling for second

    1. I’ve been happy to see drivers race for a title according to a points system for the last 30 years. I would rather see someone “pootle” around in second than “retire” from a race for which he will get nothing towards the championship.

  41. An interesting note on this – Max and FIA were more willing to compromise with Bernie and FOM than Luca and FOTA.
    This must mean that Bernie and Max are still working hand in glove to stay in control. They don’t want FOTA to get a foothold anywhere.
    So they will be in big big trouble if there are similar disputes and dodgy decisions by the FIA during the races as last year, as I think FOTA will put its foot down.
    Bernie isn’t listening to the teams, or the fans. Max isn’t listening to the teams or the fans either.
    Use this year to show your support for your team and your local circuit. Keep the racing real and out of the hands of idiots!

  42. Either Bernie is losing it or he’s trying to disrupt FOTA by splitting their opinions. So far he’s failed and long may he continue to do so.

    If they want to prove the “winner takes all” concept works then let them try it with a back-room lesser formula before experimenting with the shop window display.

  43. Bernie acting like he has the fans interest at heart! Don’t make me laugh, what about the North American fans who he f#@*%$ over by getting rid of Indy and Montreal. EVERYTHING Bernie does is to serve Bernie. Sounds to me like its time to get him his robe and fuzzy slippers and let him sit on the porch and blabber about how great he was in his youth. Rot in HELL Bernie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  44. I think it’s the problem that all brilliant people eventually suffer. They grow old and are no longer brilliant. Yet they don’t realize it and still think that whatever they come up with is still brilliant.

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