Too much democracy in F1 nowadays - Ecclestone

  • Published on 29 Jul 2015 14:45
  • comments 1
  • By: Rob Veenstra

Bernie Ecclestone thinks F1 is too democratic. "The trouble is that formula one today is too much of a democracy. And I'm a little bit against democracy," the sport's so-called 'supremo' told the Spanish F1 broadcaster Movistar.

For years, the now 84-year-old Briton ruled formula one hand-in-hand with the similarly autocratic Max Mosley. But today, the FIA is led by the much more appeasing Jean Todt. "The difficulty is getting everybody to agree," Ecclestone said in the interview. "If we could get the FIA to agree, we could do whatever we felt was the right thing to do."

He despises the current 'power unit' engine formula, but he also thinks the rules regime in other areas has made the sport "too clinical". "'Do not do this, you can't do that'," Ecclestone charged. He said F1 should become more of a "driver championship", as at present the cars are too much under the control of engineers on the pitwall. "The funny thing is that the drivers don't like it. They want to be in charge," said Ecclestone.

And when asked if he would welcome Mosley back to the paddock, Ecclestone answered: "It would be nice to have Max back again. I think most people would."

Finally, Ecclestone admitted he has been surprised by how much Honda has struggled since returning to F1 this year, saying he knows both the Japanese carmaker as well as McLaren are "not happy". "Everybody thought the Honda engine would be fantastic," he said, "including me. And I know absolutely, 100 per cent, Fernando (Alonso) is not happy." (GMM)

Replies (1)

Login to reply
  • scf1fan

    Posts: 58

    So, in other words, we would be having more of your "Medals" and points multiplier races, races in "Nowhereland" and whatever other hair-brained, half-a$$ed ideas you've come up with . . . right Bernie? (I'd be back to watching Indy cars!!) There is nothing wrong with F1 today other than the difference in the "take" between the haves and the have-nots! (Teams and venues!) And even some of the teams are crying like babies (RB!) because they don't want to have to work for the success that they want.
    .
    If you want to address some of the lesser issues in F1 you only need to do two things to fix the most significant of those. 1) Give them more gas in the tank! (Or shorten the races by a couple of laps until they can build 110-120kg tanks.) and 2) get rid of the fuel flow limit. Of course that might wind up in one or two more blown engines, so they might want to lessen the penalties for use of the fifth or sixth engine/tranny parts.

    • + 0
    • Jul 29 2015 - 23:06

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar