The arrogance of Bernie Ecclestone

[Matt32AMG]

Par for the course these days - there is an army of them in the UK, (and worldwide) - the only thing that I would add is "rich"

sorry I am wrong it's "very very rich"

But not quite as rich as he was since his wife left due to him being a very very rich top class plonker. She had half his dosh

 

[Matt32AMG]

He's a successful clever focused business person who has the usual traits of those involved in sports management (IME it's all about money, rights, and keeping the talent under control).

So busy he forgot about the wife oops and that was not quite as smart me thinks.

 

[Mudster]

I beg to differ, Clearly it is possible, or else Sliverstone and the BRDC would have shown a loss in their year end accounts. This they didn't, they showed a modest profit after operating expenses of £650,000. Not mega bucks agreed, but then not at a loss. Sure further investment into the track and facilities is required, but I have trouble understanding the levels of investment being dictated by Bernie.

Mosley as I understand it, was trying to reduce costs of running a team, not the expense of creating new venues or reducing ticket prices for the spectator. And given that Max was trying to reduce the costs of putting a car on the starting grid, few teams seemed that bothered or in a hurry to sign up to this directive, with perhaps the exception of Williams or Force India. Other teams didn't seem that bothered about the cost or running a team, it cost what it cost, in fact Ferrari objected.

So what's the cost of hosting the event at Silverstone and is that financially viable, becasue thats what this all comes down to.

 

[Mudster]

Ecclestone is top class plonker. He's so up his own backside he can't see the woods for the trees. The quicker they get rid of idiots like him, the better the sport will be. I hope all the teams do eventually break away and start a new breed.

He drinks in a little pub just off Oxford Street in London every week. Last time I saw him in there I really wanted to shout "plonker - stop ruining F1" at him but I held back...regret it now..

Without Bernie Ecclescake, F1 would still be the disorganised gentlemans racing club that it was in the 70's. He's made it what it is and a lot of people very rich.

TIme for a change though now.

 

[Dryce]

Without Bernie Ecclescake, F1 would still be the disorganised gentlemans racing club that it was in the 70's. He's made it what it is and a lot of people very rich.

But is the racing any better?

 

[Mudster]

But is the racing any better?

Better? Of course not, but then we don't get a two deaths a year, year in year out and everyone in the sport is a whole lot wealthier. I guess that's the compromise.

Do you think the racing was better back in the day without the techonology and safety features? Of course it was, it's a rhetorical question, but that would never be allowed to happen again would it.....

 

[Dryce]

Better? Of course not, but then we don't get a two deaths a year, year in year out and everyone in the sport is a whole lot wealthier. I guess that's the compromise.

I don't think the safety aspects have contributed much to making the racing worse.

To be fair to F1 the technology has been a contributor to the problem. And that's difficult to control. And reliability has removed some of the variability.

But the sport has been negligent on stewarding. It has been haphazard in dealing with qualifying.

And the soulless modern tracks haven't been wasted as an opportunity to improve the racing.

I would remove all electronics from the car apart from the cameras and communication. Manual gearboxes. Manual clutch. No refuelling. One type of tyre of each type: slicks, intermediates, and full wets with no variations for different tracks - just three fixed types for the whole season. Restricted aero. Restricted fuel. Restricted in-season testing by allowing official testing by all teams together at specific venues or an extra day of running at the circuits after specified races. Standard engine pricing rather than standard engines. Anybody who makes F1 engines has to be willing to supply them to other teams that do not make their own engines for the standard price.

I'd dump Singapore, Valencia, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, and Istanbul.

Hmmmmmm? You really really don't want me in charge!

 

[scumbag]

can't agree with standardising parts and some other regulations.

Formula One is meant to be the pinnacle of Motorsport. To be that it has to have some differences to other Formula racings.

It also has to represent a challenge. Bolting someone elses parts to someone elses chassis and then take it racing is not a particularly hard challenge.

Designing a car with the freedom F1 teams have is as challenge. Then competing against other teams is a challenge. To be at the forefront of Motorsport means that F1 must push the boundaries of what is possible.

Most Racing in the world now have F1 inspired gear change devices. Most run with the carbon brakes. Why dump them just to improve the spectacle.

Safety systems are now starting to show diminishing returns. There is a limit to just how safe you can make an inherently unsafe activity and we are at the brink of that point. F1 regulations now try to curb increases in speed so we can maintain safety levels. The new circuits were originally thought of as safer due to wide run off, and prior to Brit GP '99 gravel traps were thought as very safe. One broken leg later and that idea has now developed a bit.

The FIA, led by Max, has been on a crusade to ensure safety, which is a lasting legacy, but way back, he started talking about cost cutting. However, he didn't actually do much at the time. World events over took the situation.

F1 will survive with or without the major manufactures as it did since 1950 really.

F1 has to be an engineering challenge to attract the best people. It has to be the fastest cars, to attract the best drivers, it has to be the ultimate racing to attract the best sponsors.

removing them will not make it better. It will just make it like the other racing series.

Bernie needs to move on along with any influences Max has. They got things going properly in the early to Mid 90's but can anyone point me at what they have done since, well, '96?