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Bernie Ecclestone says Liberty Media is not making him welcome at Grands Prix. F1's long-time supremo has attended a handful of races this year, after being stepped down as chief executive by his successor Chase Carey.
"Chase sent a message to one of the girls in the office to tell me that they haven't got so many offices at the circuits -- only what the race promoter gives them," the 86-year-old, who will attend the Brazilian Grand Prix next month, told the Daily Mail. "So basically they don't want me to come to races. It would have been just as easy to have said that to me. Anyway, I have obliged them," Ecclestone said.
He admits stepping away from the sport he oversaw for decades has been difficult, but he is moving on with his life by relocating from London to Switzerland. Asked if leaving London will be a wrench, Ecclestone answered: "Yeah. It's a bit of a wrench not being involved in Formula 1, but you get used to it."
But he also said he thinks new F1 chief executive Carey is having a tougher than expected time running the sport without him: "They (Liberty) haven't done anything yet as far as I can see. I got things done quietly. All they do is talk," Ecclestone said.
"They said they wanted six races in America, for example," he continued. "Chase had preconceived ideas of what needed to be done. But now he's on board, it isn't quite as easy as he thought. So I feel sorry for him."
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Replies (3)
Login to replyajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Ecclestone is such a sore loser. It will be nice when the franchise is worth multiples of what he got for it. Then it will really sting. Also, Liberty has done a lot already! Small things that make a huge difference for fans, such as the videos of driver's briefings, the special content created by Formula1.com (which is finally turning into a decent site), the discussions on interesting venues such as Netherlands and another American race. In general the high-spirits because now we all feel there's someone with a vision at the helm instead of this old bastard. Glad that he's no longer at the races.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
It makes sense. No good can come of it, and he would only try to stir up shit.
Major Tom
Posts: 152
Sour Grapes! He always was a git.