In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone has floated another plan to sell customer cars to fill up the F1 grid.
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Bernie Ecclestone: If you want to make enemies then be rich and successful (Daily Mail)
"He wants to provide lesser teams with two chassis and charge £15m. He says that will come out of the £50m a year the teams are paid to compete, leaving them with £35m, plus whatever from sponsorship and income from pay-drivers, to finance the racing. Cosworth or Renault could supply engines."
"I think last year I adapted a mental attitude that was kind of, I would like to say, impenetrable. Of course, in the previous years it has been the case where it’s affected my life in general, but I feel that I still carry that kind of mentality from last year, and, while it’s not been easy, having been in this position before, I feel stronger than ever."
Symonds: McLaren couldn't win as a customer, Williams can (ESPN)
"When (Ron Dennis) was the works Mercedes team he got beaten by Brawn, didn't he? Maybe it's just difficult for him to win. Just like it's difficult for him to find title sponsors."
Williams surprised by Mercedes gap (Autosport)
"Asked if he had expected Mercedes to be that far ahead, Williams technical chief Symonds replied: 'No, I didn't. Like most people I was quite surprised at the laptime that they did.'"
"In the short term there is no need for knee jerk reaction to make changes for Australia. F1 safety standards are very high."
La F1 del 2015 vista da un ex: Domenicali (Blog Quotidiano (Italian))
Former Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali says he wishes he'd had the chance to work with Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari.
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Comment of the day
You can’t fault @Baron for candour:
I was a total idiot at 17, and at 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24… well, you get my drift.
I think he’s (Verstappen) doing just fine but will probably get ‘schooled’ by the older hands. The big question is, who will sit with him at dinner time?
@Baron
From the forum
- @Splittimes has a question about straight-line aerodynamic testing
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On this day in F1
This time last year we were looking at the battle of the team mates in the year ahead. Only 9% of you thought Daniel Ricciardo would beat Sebastian Vettel…
Stig Semper Fi (@stigsemperfi)
8th March 2015, 0:10
In all fairness, Brawn won because they managed to exploit a loophole in the regulations. And that year’s McLaren was not the best car they made.
Tiago Sá
8th March 2015, 1:09
In that case, both Williams and Toyota should have won as well, because they too had double diffusers…
Brawn won because they had THE best car and because Button was brilliant. The end.
Why did they have the best car? Because Honda basically poured money into it for the whole year before and they had the best engine as well.
dam00r (@dam00r)
8th March 2015, 3:11
Button is the luckiest world champion there has ever been.
Joey-Poey (@joey-poey)
8th March 2015, 3:49
Came in 2nd in 2011, kept his fellow world champion teammate on his toes all 3 years, won races in multiple years since his championship. Yep, sure was nothing but luck.
Duncan Snowden
8th March 2015, 22:07
I’ve never understood this idea that Jenson was lucky. He’s always struck me as one of the unluckiest drivers as far as getting decent car goes in the history of F1. You’d have expected (at that time) Williams to be good; ditto Benetton. Maybe not BAR, but Honda moving in should have meant a championship-contending car. McLaren, too.
Lucky? He’s more like a jinx. ;) The only senses in which he was “lucky” to win the championship are that, of all the teams he’s driven for, Brawn was probably the last one you’d expect anyone to win it with, and if he’d had the chance he’d probably have jumped ship.
But he wouldn’t have had such a long career if everyone thought so little of him. We can all name plenty of “journeyman” drivers, and they don’t stick around for (what will be, by the time his current contract expires) 17 years. The Brawn season was the one time he did get a break, and it showed what he can really do. As Strontium says below, Rubens had the same car.
pastaman (@)
8th March 2015, 5:33
You could say that about any champion in a dominant car
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
8th March 2015, 8:19
@pastaman But what about the one who was given such a car by the team that was deserted by the manufacturer for which it was a factory team only a few mo@pastamannths previously, meaning that the team nearly failed to race, never mind win 2 championships in a year?
ColdFly F1 (@)
8th March 2015, 5:55
Just re-read the 5 Dec ’08 article about Honda’s demise.
Nothing hints at a WDC and WCC in 2009, and Button was probably ‘lucky’ that Honda pulled out so late in the year, that he had no option to go to anther team.
sonia luff (@sonia54)
8th March 2015, 11:22
dam00r Surely that title goes to Hamilton 2008 lol
OmarR-Pepper (@)
8th March 2015, 13:00
@sonia54 telemetry or not, I agree with you.
But Massa would have been bashed as the “Spa-gifted” champion if he had won that year. So maybe it was just “karma” that Glock struggled in Brazil.
Strontium (@strontium)
8th March 2015, 13:52
@sonia54 Absolutely.
@dam00r Button won because he was good. Luck always plays a part in any F1 race. Don’t forget that Barrichello was just as lucky and he didn’t win.
MarkM
9th March 2015, 21:13
I’m tired of you playboy
Hamilton fans. What did pretty boy do last year? Oh yeah same thing.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
8th March 2015, 8:07
They won because of Honda, and they failed to completely dominate the season because of Honda.
Breno (@austus)
8th March 2015, 22:44
Bar loophole, Red Bull had the best car.
Blackmamba (@blackmamba)
8th March 2015, 8:22
Symonds does have a point though. McLaren always manage to ef things up one way or another, regardless of how competitive the engine is. I have dispaired for years watching them waste opportunity after opportunity, the most recent being 2007 and 2012. Looking at it another way McLaren and Mercedes partnership yielded 78 wins. But how many titles? 3 Drivers’ and 1 Constructors’. That’s a measly conversion rate by anyone’s standards. Now look at another team like Redbull. 50 race wins; 4 Drivers’ and 4 Constructors’.
I do agree with Symmonds engines have never held McLaren back, they are their own worst enemy!
McL88AsAp (@deongunner)
8th March 2015, 0:29
Both of Merc drivers mentality are quite fragile, though.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
8th March 2015, 1:26
I think Lewis is a primadonna, but Lewis and his side of the garage, clearly got a better understanding of how to maximize the sundays, besides unlike past deciders, this time Lewis didn’t faltered under pressure, at least until Rosberg’s car went “Singapore sling” again.
McL88AsAp (@deongunner)
8th March 2015, 4:11
On the track Hamilton rarely broke down, but off the track issues could give big impact for him, like Merc preview article said, I also won’t underestimate his contract issue.
Blackmamba (@blackmamba)
8th March 2015, 7:34
Some wishfull thinking on the part of some posters here. At least now we don’t hear so much about ‘cerebral’ this ‘cerebral’ that! Oh it kills me lol.
Kgn11
8th March 2015, 8:03
The only time off track issues has affected him was 2011, that was 4 years ago. Time to move on people.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
8th March 2015, 13:01
@deongunner tell me about 2011, when he emulated Maldonado crashing with Massa almost every race!
McL88AsAp (@deongunner)
8th March 2015, 14:54
@omarr-pepper his off the track issues cause impact also on the track
lockup (@)
8th March 2015, 10:47
I can’t agree @deongunner. The only time Hamilton’s has noticeably been affected by off-track events was Oz 2010 qualifying, after hoogate. 2011 was about the stewarding, not Nicole, and it’s much exaggerated anyway. People mistake emotion for weakness, it’s a macho thing. As for Rosberg, well he held it together pretty well under all the pressure last year I thought, even if we say cheating is inherently weak.
They all feel pressure to some extent. Look at Vettel in Brazil and Abu 2012, Alonso Fuji 2008 or Button Silverstone 2009. I don’t think Merc are at any disadvantage at all on mental strength. Neither Red Bull driver has even been tested at this level, nor Bottas.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
8th March 2015, 12:01
Nope. Bernie says 2015 was gonna be Rosberg’s year:
https://twitter.com/nico_rosberg/status/574516273494814721
Kgn11
8th March 2015, 12:24
Didn’t Bernie tell him the same thing last year as well?….Hmmm how did that one workout for him?
Robbie (@robbie)
8th March 2015, 13:18
I certainly don’t agree with the suggestion both LH and NR are fragile mentally. I think they both have the capacity to learn and grow and will have done so from last year’s experience. LH admitted in 2011 to off-track distractions costing him on the track, and sure enough JB bested him that year, but I’m sure LH has moved on from there. Actually he literally did. I think said off-track distractions in 2011 was the beginning of the end for him at Mac, but that’s history, and it’s worked out fine for him obviously.
It’s a new year so anything can and will happen. I think what will be interesting to see in the dynamic is whether or not each Merc driver will still only need worry about their teammate, or if in fact other drivers will throw themselves into the mix and take more of those points from them. That could change the game a bit by making the rivalry a little less the focus, by putting someone else in between them once in a while. That said I’m sure not convinced right now that this will be anything but another Merc rout. Gonna be fascinating, race by race.
John H (@john-h)
8th March 2015, 0:33
Depends how you measure success Bernie. Luckily there are still many people in this world that don’t use the same metric as you.
pxcmerc (@)
8th March 2015, 3:12
Bernie is too old, and too rich, he can afford to keep his head stuck up … in the clouds.
The problem with F1 are limited opportunities for teams with small budgets. If you actually look at F1 critically, you almost see the contradictions coming out of the mouths of the politicos who run F1, vs what has actually been legislated.
chambers
8th March 2015, 7:22
I’m thinking of all the poor people who are forced to only ever make friends because of their poverty and lack of success.
Bascb
8th March 2015, 10:35
The article was a nice tea, but it perfectly shows why Bernie shouldn’t be running F1 anymore. He is stuck in the past, I’d even say he is wearing his own rose tinted glasses. And then he comes up with a scheme to “help” small teams by making them also runs by default, AND sucks them dry so FOM will make more money from it, like it does with GP2. No, thanks Bernie. I want to see teams have to work for their cars, try and improve them, etc. It is part of participating in F1. Buying off stock cars to trundle around at the back, making money from pay drivers is not.
BasCB (@bascb)
8th March 2015, 13:21
Off course that should have been “the article was a nice read (what you get from not checking up on auto correct, eh.)
BasCB (@bascb)
8th March 2015, 13:33
To add to the discussion – interesting interview with the former Lotus F1 twitter guy – highlight: they had even developed a steering wheel that enabled a driver to tweet live pictures from the cockpit! Needless to say FOM was not interested in seeing that in action.
Dylan Lees
8th March 2015, 0:33
Symonds: McLaren couldn’t win as a customer, Williams can…
“Asked if he had expected Mercedes to be that far ahead, Williams technical chief Symonds replied: ‘No, I didn’t. Like most people I was quite surprised at the laptime that they did.'”
Looks like you won’t be beating them either, Pat ;)
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
8th March 2015, 1:23
Yes, it sounds Symonds and Dennis need to “apply some water to the burnt area”
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
8th March 2015, 0:35
You might say that, Symonds, but Ron’s right. You are not going to win… unless you make one of your guys crash at every race…
anon
8th March 2015, 9:00
On current form, I’d still say that Williams has a far better chance of winning a race than McLaren does given that Williams would probably still be running by the end…
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
8th March 2015, 10:11
It’s about winning the championship, not just a race…
ACx
8th March 2015, 12:17
It used to be that winning a Grand Prix was an incredible achievement….
anon
8th March 2015, 14:22
@spoutnik, at the moment I would still say that Williams are better placed than McLaren for overall success in the 2015 season.
Even by Boullier’s more optimistic estimates, McLaren were only able to complete about half of their planned testing program (Button put the figure closer to just 40% complete) – the only team that did less mileage with their 2015 car was Force India, and even then Force India came within a few kilometres of covering in two and a half days what McLaren did in 12. Because of that, the team have already stated they’re effectively writing off the first four races (or about a fifth of the season) by treating them as an extended testing program.
OK, maybe the Honda alliance will come good later in the season, and perhaps 2016 will be a better year for McLaren – but, by their own admission, McLaren are currently unprepared and unsure of what to expect for 2015 and do not expect to be competitive until a long way into the season.
Maciek (@maciek)
8th March 2015, 1:22
You’ve just got to love Bernie’s thinking in basing smaller teams’ budgets on income from pay drivers – really there’s nothing wrong with F1 management and if people hate him it’s only because they’re jealous, so nyah nyah.
P5ycH0
8th March 2015, 12:40
Actually basing income on pay-drivers is nothing to love at all.
But back to Bernie. He is the single reason F1 has become soo expensive.
It’s ridiculous that circuits like Spa actually loose money when they’ve sold out all tickets.
Bernie is also the reason why F1 is using ancient technologies to bring racing to the fans.
All Bernie wants to do is make more money. That one eye blind late to his own funeral greedy monster needs to go. A.s.a.p.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
8th March 2015, 1:52
Since I have recently become a McLaren fan again this comment may appear as sour grapes, but I don’t think Symonds claims that McLaren are not winning because of something on their aerodynamic side is true. I still have a great deal of respect for Symonds and he must take a lot of credit for Williams recent resurgence but I am struggling to think of a non-customer team that has beaten a works team other than recently with Red Bull and Renault in 2010. Even then, Renault were more Team Enstone that a Renault factory team and there was a significant amount of change going on at the time. Red Bull had also, at far greater investment, assembled a top quality aero team. Brawn winning had a lot to do with Honda and the double diffuser pitted against a team that had fought to the bitter end of the championship in 2008. Williams and Benetton shared engines in the mid 1990s but neither, I would say, were the factory team which Renault cared about.
It also strikes me that the is a difference in scale in Symonds comment. Williams could claim to be successful if they win races this year but McLaren has been able to do that for years. McLaren fail if they do not win the title.
Polo (@polo)
8th March 2015, 1:54
From that Hamilton article:
“…though the indications favour another season of Mercedes domination, Hamilton hopes that the opposition will be stronger: “A year of dominance is a great thing for a team, but as a racing driver I’m sure the fans want to see close competition.”
So what if he were to dominate in 2015? “Personally, I would get bored,” he added.”
I remember that he said something similar a couple of weeks ago, and a lot of people commented that they thought he was lying, or that he had some ulterior motive or something.
Personally, I actually get the impression that he is being truthful and genuinely prefers close racing to driving around by himself at the front – he’s openly admitted he finds testing boring and that he always looks forward to the racing. He also said he found close racing and title battles more interesting to watch on TV when he was growing up. Hamilton tends to be one of the few F1 drivers who says what he is thinking (even if it gets him into controversies quite often) so I actually believe him.
Sven (@crammond)
8th March 2015, 2:26
While I don´t believe he´s lying or having an ulterior motive, I do believe he would want a dominating team/car again as soon as there was a close battle. It´s an example for the “grass is always greener on the other side”-effect.
vvans
8th March 2015, 7:02
In hindsight every driver prefers a championship won by fighting than one won with a dominant car. But I doubt Hamilton really means it. He can put his money where his mouth is by going into all races and qualis with the lowest engine setting and with a badly set up car. I doubt he will do it though, nor would I.
lockup (@)
8th March 2015, 11:05
That’s not an equivalent situation. If you handicap yourself then whether you win or lose is determined merely by where you set the handicap, so the test is arbitrary not a test of whether you are the best.
People sometimes invent their own version of Hamilton and then sit in judgement on their own invention. It’s speculation.
For me I agree with @polo. Lewis likes to fight. He’s a predator. He’s less interested in purely accumulating stats. Obviously he backs himself to win, that doesn’t make his mindset dishonest.
And it’s quite improbable that he’s like you, or me ;)
MagicSpin
8th March 2015, 18:34
As far as I can see, racing is expressive for Lewis. It’s part of his identity; being as he perceives so good at what he does that no one can beat him. It doesn’t necessarily “he’s got something to prove” but he acts the same way. Vettel likes to show it by running up the score and writing history. Hamilton is like a boss sumo wrestler – he stands in the ring, smacks his hands on the floor and demands that everybody challenge him. He wants to defeat competitor after competitor, demonstrating his ability in the most exciting way possible. It stresses him out when his career doesn’t go like this (e.g. when he’s beaten by Rosberg twice in a row, even when it’s not his fault)
OmarR-Pepper (@)
8th March 2015, 13:06
@polo Well, so what about his 2013 comments saying “he wouldn’t like to become a champion in a dominant car” (referring to Seb / RB combo)
http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24181/8937824/lewis-hamilton-says-he-wouldnt-like-to-keep-dominating-races-like-sebastian-vettel
if winning like last year wasn’t dominating, I don’t know what it could be then!
Robbie (@robbie)
8th March 2015, 13:31
I think most drivers would say the same thing ahead of a season. They know it just is what it is. Most athletes are going to feel more rewarded with the trophy if it was a true grind and really pushed them to places they’d never been in order to achieve the goal, beating very tough challengers, as opposed to them not being stretched nor challenged and it being a cakewalk. But either way it is what it is. Each race will bring what it brings and in the end we’ll see how taxing or rewarding it was, but no matter what, no driver or athlete is going to hand back the equipment if they see they are making it look easy. That’s just the card they were dealt, and those opportunities are rare enough and never last so you just take it for what it is.
lockup (@)
8th March 2015, 14:57
That is a sneaky misquote @omarr-pepper. What he said was that he did not want to be ABLE TO be that far ahead.
Pretty desperate to be claiming that means there was mysteriously something wrong with him driving as well as he could!
matt90 (@matt90)
8th March 2015, 2:56
And which other works team in that same year was beaten by a customer team…
David (@nvherman)
8th March 2015, 3:11
Quite.
Pat Symonds seems to have a short memory, especially considering who one of his drivers was
ColdFly F1 (@)
8th March 2015, 6:02
Pat Symonds. Is that the same guy who asked Nelsinho to crash in Singapore, and was subsequently banned from F1 for 5 years? (@matt90)
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
8th March 2015, 6:28
In all seriousness though, McLaren’s partnership with Mercedes has actually been quite bad. Even when they had a supercar, they struggled to the title in ’98. And just one constructors’ trophy in 20 years? (not counting 1993-94, when Merc had not come on board). Think about all those years in the early and mid-2000s when crucial engine failures and power-related issues cost them so badly. Sometimes I think Merc actually pulled them down more than anything. Apart from a couple of good years, the last two decades have been largely poor for them.
Blackmamba (@blackmamba)
8th March 2015, 8:36
@wsrgo what in the world are you talking about? McLaren-Mercedes is one of the most successful partnerships in F1 ever. They won 78 Grands Prix together and unless you expect Mercedes-Benz to literally run the outfit for them I don’t see what else an engine supplier is supposed to have done. McLaren are just incredible at bungling even advantageous positions like you wouldn’t believe.
matt90 (@matt90)
8th March 2015, 10:00
They were both one of the most successful partnerships and also one of the least successful at a championship level.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
8th March 2015, 8:29
@matt90 March, by customer team Hesketh (sometime early in James Hunt’s F1 career)?
Team Enstone, By Red Bull, 2009-2010?
Team Brackley, by Team Woking, 2010-2012?
(That is, unless by “that same year” you mean 2014-and-2014-only)
anon
8th March 2015, 9:02
You could also add Williams to the list of historical examples given that they beat Toyota, their engine supplier, in 2007.
matt90 (@matt90)
8th March 2015, 10:14
By ‘that same year’ I mean the year he was talking about- Brawn in 2009, where Symonds’ own works team Renault was beaten by Red Bull Renault. I wasn’t actually asking, I was rhetorically implying that Symonds made a terrible point.
Although it is interesting that Symonds was essentially on the other side in 1995, when Benetton beat Williams Renault.
tmax (@tmax)
8th March 2015, 3:10
@KeithCollantine Just Read the Article about the Ferrari Big Boss
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fiat-chrysler-ceo-marchionne-earned-34-6-million-in-2014-1425661936?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fxml%2Frss%2F3_7014+%28WSJ.com%3A+US+Business%29
Neil (@neilosjames)
8th March 2015, 3:23
“He says that will come out of the £50m a year the teams are paid to compete.”
Maybe if everyone actually got a guaranteed £50m, we wouldn’t need this stupid talk of customer cars.
ColdFly F1 (@)
8th March 2015, 6:17
@tmax, I agree.
When I read about the GBP50mil I thought Bernie had seen the light. 50mil for each team, plus price money on top, would be a good/healthy way to grow the sport giving all the teams a fair share of the big pie.
But of course Bernie was playing one of his games again. He simply calls the existing prize money ‘money we pay teams to compete’ to appear the good guy.
Small/most teams get zero to compete. They need to work hard during one year and make the top 10 (or 2 out of the past 3 years), and subsequently need to wait another year, and continue to participate, to collect any of that hard earned money. probably something in between a ponzi scheme and a martingale betting strategy (doubling your bet when you lose the first time).
ColdFly F1 (@)
8th March 2015, 6:21
oops,
*@neilosjames, agree with your comment.
Philip (@philipgb)
8th March 2015, 3:57
So Bernie says: ‘If you want to make enemies in this world, then be rich and successful,’
I think a more accurate statement would be if you want to make billions in this world then be happy to make enemies.
The be fair though, I like the enemies of Ecclestone even less than him. They despise him because he isn’t part of their boys club yet they need him because he’s a cunning, cunning man who’s seized every opportunity others have missed and extracted everything it has to offer out of it.
This is a used car salesmen mixing it with lords and sultans and they hate him for it.
I don’t like his team championship idea though. It’s filler material designed to make the grid look full. They may as well just host the GP2 races at the same time if that’s all that matters.
TheBullWhipper (@thebullwhipper)
8th March 2015, 5:08
I used to be anti-Ecclestone, but last summer I read the book ‘No Angel’, I still think Bernie is an A-hole but a damn clever one! He took financial risks when team owners wouldn’t, he put his money where his mouth is and has always had sound reasoning behind his decisions no matter how unpopular they are. The reason CVC/FOM ended up being able to take such a large chunck on the revenue is because as years past, he cut out or bought out the sub-contractors who ran certain aspects of race weekends (hospitality, catering, paddock club etc), so instead of paying out to others percentages of the income, FOM just kept it. The more stuff they did ‘in house’ meant the more money could be kept hold of. The teams that mattered at the time all agreed to Ecclestone/FOM taking on these responsibilities and keeping the money they saved.
Divide and conquer has always been his mantra,……….and boy is he good at it.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
8th March 2015, 6:10
Bill Gates is rich and successful. He’s one of my role models. Bernie is not.
Philip (@philipgb)
8th March 2015, 9:10
I think some of Microsoft’s tactics in the nineties are pretty Bernie esque.
Their anti competitive tactics also did affect the common man through expensive licences and years of substandard software being the norm.
At least F1 is just a frivolity.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
8th March 2015, 12:08
@philipgb
Exactly my thoughts !!! Their historic deal with IBM was also Bernie esque, the way they pushed Digital Research out of the business (Dr Gary Kildall)
HK (@me4me)
8th March 2015, 9:35
Somewhat surpriced about the negativity toward Pat Symonds. Personally I had a good laugh, Ron’s face would’ve turned red if he’d heard that. What’s in the past is in the past. Currently to me Symonds is one of the more likable persons in the paddock. The great technical insight and a sense of humor.
Philip (@philipgb)
8th March 2015, 10:30
Psychopaths often are likeable and charming.
Let’s face it Benetton cheated. And he bullied a young driver into committing a reckless act. I hope Williams keep him in check because I like them as a team and he no doubt has valuable technical expertise.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
8th March 2015, 10:11
If anything 2011 was a series of poor results for Hammie because of his woes with the girlfriend. He should just dump Nicole, she doenst want to get married anyway, and get on with his racing. In a car a second faster than anyone else and a teammate who can barely match him on sunday there isn’t a thing that can stop Hamilton taking a third title.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th March 2015, 6:01
Ehm, first of all it was Hamilton that didn’t want to get married and get kids as far as I cought the whole thing @xtwl. And then they apparently broke up for “good” and don’t see eachother since about a month.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
9th March 2015, 12:01
@bascb Possibly but didn’t he also propose earlier? Actually, I don’t even care about his love life. He’s fast on track and that is what I want to see, and the last thing I want to see is him being slown down by problems caused by his love life.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th March 2015, 12:19
I actually think Hamilton cut off the relationship pretty much for exactly that reason @xtwl!
Nick (@npf1)
8th March 2015, 10:52
What I find rather intriguing about Bernie’s constant stream of random cost-saving ideas is how he’s basically still trying to implement an idea he had in 1995: to banish the teams that are so poor/bad, they can’t make all races or qualify.
Maybe in another 20 years he’ll finally figure it was a poorly constructed idea.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
8th March 2015, 13:12
@nfp1 in another 20 years
How old is the guy? He is 84. Let’s hope he doesn’t brake the age record!
OmarR-Pepper (@)
8th March 2015, 13:12
@npf1 oops
Duncan Snowden
8th March 2015, 22:22
I’m more convinced than ever that he wants to turn it into a spec series. The smaller teams would just be the start, setting a precedent.
It’s all about control, limiting the autonomy of the teams. He knows how powerful they can be once they realise that it’s their sport, because he was in their position 35 years ago. The poacher has turned gamekeeper, and he doesn’t want FOM to go the way of FISA
F1FlimFlam
8th March 2015, 11:55
Although it has its own daftly comedic policy problems to overcome, if Ecclestone drives through this idea, this site may as well rechristen itself F1Forgettable. I shall certainly forget F1 for at least a very long time, if not forever. So far, it’s been a great love since forever.
It appears that F1 may be about to go bankrupt spiritually. When that happens, it’ll probably go bankrupt financially no matter what anyone does. The sooner Bernie achieves what he was sent to Earth to do and defeats Superman, the better for the sport.
kpcart
8th March 2015, 12:51
oh please, give it a rest, the f1 you love is constantly changing, and can change for the better by having customer cars and a series that is competitive.
kpcart
8th March 2015, 12:44
just a note, i dont know if Keith mentioned this here, but German Bild have reported 2 days ago that Jules Bianchi is still in a coma, and his condition has not improved. this is 5 months after Japan now.
Park
8th March 2015, 15:13
There are something about Symonds puzzling me. It appears to me that he rarely shows in public how sorry he is about his role in Crashgate as well as he has never showed in public any sympathy for Massa’s 2008 Singapore race in any way. I hope he has done both privately.
greg-c
8th March 2015, 21:19
Funny that they end up at the same team, ( massa Symmonds)
I’m sure it’s been talked about no end ,
johnny stick
8th March 2015, 17:13
So when Bernie finally gets his wish, and F1 implodes, and Bernie then retires with everyone’s money and declares he is the champion of the world, who picks up the ashes of F1 and gets us back to real racing?