Post by QPR Report on Sept 7, 2009 8:00:49 GMT
I guess you have to get the whole magazine if interested!
On a seperate matter, course, when you have a 78-year old owner, certain questions do arise about what happens re QPR, 'just in case' (besides the whole issue of his divorce and how his assets were divided]
F1 Racing
YOU ASK THE QUESTIONS: Bernie Ecclestone
Love him or hate him, you have to read this
Full marks for bravery: you asked him about his hair, The Great Train Robbery (yikes!) and why he's a 'cantankerous sod'. He, in turn, discussed needing a stepladder to reach his wallet and FOTA 'playing with themselves'. There was even time for an unlikely olive branch for Silverstone. Ladies and gentlemen, F1's ringmaster will see you now...
Talk about F1 politics. The German Grand Prix weekend at the Nurburgring, where Mark Webber would drive to glory on his 130th attempt, was absolutely buzzing... and, as usual, Bernie Ecclestone was right at the heart of it. The cloak and dagger machinations over a possible breakaway series were still in full flow, Ari Vatanen was doing the rounds after announcing he would stand for election as president of the FIA and Ecclestone himself was still trying to fend off widespread criticism over his ill-judged remarks praising Adolf Hitler, published a week earlier in The Times. Oh, and there were also stories rumbling around - apparently untrue - that CVC Capital Partners, who employ Ecclestone to run F1, wanted to get rid of him.
What follows offers an intriguing glimpse into the mind of the man who has dominated F1 for 30 years. Of course there are plenty of his stock-in-trade one-liners - some classics among them - but there's some serious stuff, too. You can tell that his passion for racing is undimmed but that the promotion side of the business is what remains closest to his heart. You will also discover some other intriguing titbits, including his love for big cats and, erm, why he always wears that same white shirt...
Dear Bernie, have you always been a cantankerous sod or have you had to work at it?
Matt Pegler, UK
I didn't know I was cantankerous. I try to get to the point quickly - I don't like P******footing around. I like to cut to the chase. I like to go and get it done.
I've been a lifelong Formula 1 fan yet I've never been to a grand prix as I simply can't afford it. Why are tickets so expensive and will you do anything about the cost?
Andy Webster, UK
Well, I think we ought to. The problem is the cost of running teams today is just crazy, but now we are getting the teams to come to their senses and reduce expenditure dramatically - or the necessity to spend money. When that happens we won't have to produce so much money for them and, therefore, we can ask less money for the promoter and the ticket prices will come down. We want that to happen as soon as possible.
What makes you a successful negotiator?
Ian Howlett, UK
I'm not even sure I am a successful negotiator, to be honest. I try to be fair and make sure everybody knows exactly what's going on. If I deal with promoters, I try to explain the position to them and exactly what their risk is. I do it on trust. If I shake hands with somebody, that's a deal. I don't need to confirm it.
Do you class any of the team principals as personal friends and, if so, who is the closest and why?
Kay Lestor, UK
Well, I've known Luca di Montezemolo for an awfully long time. It goes back to 1972 or something like that. So, in a funny way, we've always been quite close. I would say we are good friends.
Is Flavio a good friend?
He says he is...
How serious were your attempts to qualify for Monaco and Silverstone in 1958? Were you disappointed that you didn't make the cut?
Iolo Williams, UK
At Silverstone I never tried, but in Monaco I did. I wasn't disappointed
I didn't make it because I didn't think I would - there were 16 runners in those days and, with all the factory cars, I didn't have much chance. But I tried.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SEPTEMBER 2009 ISSUE OF F1 RACING
www.f1racing.co.uk/testdrive
Eurosport - F1 cost cuts to bring prices down - Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone has indicated that F1's prices both for race promoters and ticket buyers will come down with shrinking expenditure by the teams.
Team spending will continue to plummet in 2010 and beyond with the recent signing of a cost-saving agreement, and the F1 chief executive told the latest issue of F1 Racing magazine that this will take pressure off the sport's commercial rights holders.
"When that happens we won't have to produce so much money for (the teams) and, therefore, we can ask for less money from the promoter and the ticket prices will come down.
"We want that to happen as soon as possible," the 78-year-old Briton said.
Ecclestone's comments have emerged at a time when some of F1's traditional promoters are struggling to afford their races, and some new venues in increasingly foreign locations are staging events in front of near-bare grandstands.
"If we go to the places where the tribunes are empty and at the same time traditional fans of F1 don't have a race, there's something wrong," FIA presidential candidate Ari Vatanen said in London last week, according to ITV.
"The fact that Silverstone may not have a race, Hockenheim may not have a race next year, France may not have a race (...) it means we are alienating the traditional customers and fans and it is not so easy to win them back," Vatanen added.
uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/06092009/13/f1-cost-cuts-bring-prices-ecclestone.html
On a seperate matter, course, when you have a 78-year old owner, certain questions do arise about what happens re QPR, 'just in case' (besides the whole issue of his divorce and how his assets were divided]
F1 Racing
YOU ASK THE QUESTIONS: Bernie Ecclestone
Love him or hate him, you have to read this
Full marks for bravery: you asked him about his hair, The Great Train Robbery (yikes!) and why he's a 'cantankerous sod'. He, in turn, discussed needing a stepladder to reach his wallet and FOTA 'playing with themselves'. There was even time for an unlikely olive branch for Silverstone. Ladies and gentlemen, F1's ringmaster will see you now...
Talk about F1 politics. The German Grand Prix weekend at the Nurburgring, where Mark Webber would drive to glory on his 130th attempt, was absolutely buzzing... and, as usual, Bernie Ecclestone was right at the heart of it. The cloak and dagger machinations over a possible breakaway series were still in full flow, Ari Vatanen was doing the rounds after announcing he would stand for election as president of the FIA and Ecclestone himself was still trying to fend off widespread criticism over his ill-judged remarks praising Adolf Hitler, published a week earlier in The Times. Oh, and there were also stories rumbling around - apparently untrue - that CVC Capital Partners, who employ Ecclestone to run F1, wanted to get rid of him.
What follows offers an intriguing glimpse into the mind of the man who has dominated F1 for 30 years. Of course there are plenty of his stock-in-trade one-liners - some classics among them - but there's some serious stuff, too. You can tell that his passion for racing is undimmed but that the promotion side of the business is what remains closest to his heart. You will also discover some other intriguing titbits, including his love for big cats and, erm, why he always wears that same white shirt...
Dear Bernie, have you always been a cantankerous sod or have you had to work at it?
Matt Pegler, UK
I didn't know I was cantankerous. I try to get to the point quickly - I don't like P******footing around. I like to cut to the chase. I like to go and get it done.
I've been a lifelong Formula 1 fan yet I've never been to a grand prix as I simply can't afford it. Why are tickets so expensive and will you do anything about the cost?
Andy Webster, UK
Well, I think we ought to. The problem is the cost of running teams today is just crazy, but now we are getting the teams to come to their senses and reduce expenditure dramatically - or the necessity to spend money. When that happens we won't have to produce so much money for them and, therefore, we can ask less money for the promoter and the ticket prices will come down. We want that to happen as soon as possible.
What makes you a successful negotiator?
Ian Howlett, UK
I'm not even sure I am a successful negotiator, to be honest. I try to be fair and make sure everybody knows exactly what's going on. If I deal with promoters, I try to explain the position to them and exactly what their risk is. I do it on trust. If I shake hands with somebody, that's a deal. I don't need to confirm it.
Do you class any of the team principals as personal friends and, if so, who is the closest and why?
Kay Lestor, UK
Well, I've known Luca di Montezemolo for an awfully long time. It goes back to 1972 or something like that. So, in a funny way, we've always been quite close. I would say we are good friends.
Is Flavio a good friend?
He says he is...
How serious were your attempts to qualify for Monaco and Silverstone in 1958? Were you disappointed that you didn't make the cut?
Iolo Williams, UK
At Silverstone I never tried, but in Monaco I did. I wasn't disappointed
I didn't make it because I didn't think I would - there were 16 runners in those days and, with all the factory cars, I didn't have much chance. But I tried.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SEPTEMBER 2009 ISSUE OF F1 RACING
www.f1racing.co.uk/testdrive
Eurosport - F1 cost cuts to bring prices down - Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone has indicated that F1's prices both for race promoters and ticket buyers will come down with shrinking expenditure by the teams.
Team spending will continue to plummet in 2010 and beyond with the recent signing of a cost-saving agreement, and the F1 chief executive told the latest issue of F1 Racing magazine that this will take pressure off the sport's commercial rights holders.
"When that happens we won't have to produce so much money for (the teams) and, therefore, we can ask for less money from the promoter and the ticket prices will come down.
"We want that to happen as soon as possible," the 78-year-old Briton said.
Ecclestone's comments have emerged at a time when some of F1's traditional promoters are struggling to afford their races, and some new venues in increasingly foreign locations are staging events in front of near-bare grandstands.
"If we go to the places where the tribunes are empty and at the same time traditional fans of F1 don't have a race, there's something wrong," FIA presidential candidate Ari Vatanen said in London last week, according to ITV.
"The fact that Silverstone may not have a race, Hockenheim may not have a race next year, France may not have a race (...) it means we are alienating the traditional customers and fans and it is not so easy to win them back," Vatanen added.
uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/06092009/13/f1-cost-cuts-bring-prices-ecclestone.html