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Ecclestone won't watch formula one destroy itself

Published on 08 Apr 2015 15:09
3
By: Rob Veenstra

Bernie Ecclestone has joined Max Mosley in fearing for the very survival of formula one. Former FIA president Mosley, a famously close ally of Ecclestone's until the end of his reign in 2009, warned this week that the current state of the sport could see it "collapse". Now, F1 supremo Ecclestone has told Sport Bild: "I will not watch formula one destroy itself because some people made a mistake."

The 84-year-old, who wants F1 to revert to its V8-powered days, sees the new turbo V6 engine regulations as arguably the biggest problem. "The fans want the volume, the teams want the low cost -- and even the racing was better," said the Briton.

But as Mosley pointed out, there can be no change unless every team agrees unanimously -- and that is not going to happen. Mercedes' Toto Wolff confirmed: "For us, the current technology is an important part of our involvement. Our marketing strategy focuses on the hybrid technology of formula one."

And he says the situation is not all bad. "You can see that Ferrari has caught up. Of course, we are still the benchmark but the others are coming closer," said Wolff. "The spectators are down but not everywhere -- in England for example. Perhaps Germany just has a 'formula one hangover'."

The fact that some teams cannot see an urgent need for change, however, is a major frustration for Ecclestone. "Usually, you can make up for your mistakes. But we are not even trying," he said. "We are sitting and waiting for formula one to disappear." Pointing his ire directly at Wolff, Ecclestone charged: "Toto can have a lovely inscription on his gravestone that says 'I helped to kill formula one'. He did not do it alone, but he helped."

He announced that he will now look to the FIA, led by its president Jean Todt, for help. "I will try to intervene and convince the FIA," said Ecclestone. "And if certain people complain, let them complain. I guarantee that we will win. After 50 years of work, I will not allow formula one to be destroyed out of pure selfishness."

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Replies (3)

TTAero

Posts: 3
I don't think he has any choice and it's largely been his making. F1 is and should be at the leading edge of automotive technology but it's not the only form of motorsport that is there. In the self interest of the F1 rights holders (Bernie Ecclestone) free to air TV broadcasters are increasingly being out bid by pay TV providers which may be good for the short term F1 budget but I suspect there are plenty of fans like me who don't have a pay TV subscription and won't take one up just for F1 who will increasingly drift off to Prototype Sports Cars, Formula E or GT3.
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- Apr 8 2015 - 17:32
khasmir

Posts: 893
There is one and only one person to blame for the current state F1 is in: Bernie Ecclestone.
He did make F1 big (business) but in the last years he has been making a mess of it.
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- Apr 8 2015 - 18:47
scf1fan

Posts: 58
"Fans" want low cost? Huh? I don't care what it costs frankly. I don't have a $25k steering wheel in my car, or any of the other necessities that F1 seems to have. If they can afford it, they can afford it. What "we want" is a full field of competitive cars at the cutting edge of technology. To do this, just pay the back markers more prize money!! It really is that easy!! The smaller teams can build a car capable of 90+% of the performance for perhaps 1/4 the cost but maybe get 10% of the prize money. (Though I don't know the exact figures.) So who is providing more racing value? Ferrari, RB and MB might like getting the lion's share of the prize money because it helps their budgets, but they aren't doing it for the prize money!

For those fans that want more noise, there are two solutions; the first would be to get rid of the max fuel flow limit and up the total fuel available (which would allow the engines to reach their peak revs for more of the time (which is near 0 now, and would probably make them FASTER THAN THE V-8's AND V-10's!!) and the second would be to turn up the volumes on your TVs' and/or hearing aids'!!! ;-)
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- Apr 9 2015 - 02:53