Post by QPR Report on Apr 6, 2009 7:54:26 GMT
From four years ago, Bernie Ecclestone talking about Formula One
"... You have got to run Formula One like a boutique, not a supermarket..."
The rest of the article is interesting just to get another impression re Mr. Ecclestone. But nothing re football. (The author, Oliver Holt, has subsequently written "positive" pieces re Eccelstone/Briatore as QPR heads
The Mirror - EXCLUSIVE: BERNIE ECCLESTONE ON THE RAMPAGE By Oliver Holt, Chief Sports Writer 9/07/2005
Bernie Ecclestone's most controversial interview EVER
FORMULA ONE supremo Bernie Ecclestone last night launched a blistering verbal attack on the men who are trying to plunge the sport into civil war.
In his most revealing interview ever, Ecclestone said that his last wish as F1 chief was to head off the threat of a split.
The sport has lurched into chaos since team owners forced Ecclestone to loosen his grip, even though he made them all millionaires.
But on the eve of the British Grand Prix, Ecclestone, the promotional genius who turned F1 into a global phenomenon, said the sport needed a dictator again.
He said his wife Slavica had urged him to turn his back on the bunglers who turned last month's USGP into a farce.
And he ridiculed the bosses who run giant engine manufacturers like Mercedes, BMW and Renault for trying to set up a breakaway series starting in 2008.
"People who run big corporations are okay at ticking boxes but they make decisions and they do not understand the side-effects of the decisions," Ecclestone, 74, said. "We have got a few new kids on the block now. They don't know what they don't know. They put a hat on that says 'president' or 'chief executive' and they find themselves in a position above their ability.
"They are like guys who have read dirty books but have never been to bed with a woman.
"You can't turn the clock back but, if they are bright enough, they will realise they are meddling with something that did not need to be fixed.
"In time they will start to understand. Their egos will melt away quietly. At the moment the sport is a so-called democracy where everybody wants a say but nobody knows what to say.
"They seem to think they can try and run the sport as if it was a big company.
"But if they do that they will be in trouble. You have got to run Formula One like a boutique, not a supermarket.
"We have got people with massive egos in the sport now. They use Formula One to promote themselves.
"If I was in charge of a detective agency and I was looking for a hidden camera somewhere, I'd hire a couple of our team owners - they always seem to be able to find a camera wherever they are.
"But at the same time the sponsors and the teams seem to jump on anyone who has got a bit of character. I felt sorry for Kimi Raikkonen when he went out and got p***ed and was told it must never happen again. They made a big fuss about that. But I remember the days when the drivers used to be out all night and they'd come back and drive without having gone to bed.
"It's got so corporate now that I'm surprised some of the English teams don't send their drivers out on to the grid wearing bowler hats.
'What we need is another James Hunt."
Despite the growing power of the manufacturers - BMW just bought out Swiss team Sauber - Ecclestone is confident that the breakaway leaders will back down.
He is convinced he could have averted the farcical scenes in Indianapolis when only six cars took part in the race because Michelin didn't bring the right tyres for its teams.
"A few years ago we didn't have the democracy in the sport we have now," Ecclestone said. "If we had had an Indianapolis situation back then, I would have said 'we're in the s**t and we have got 100,000 people out there so what are we going to do about it? Can Bridgestone supply the tyres?'
"Whatever happened, we would have had a race. I can't do that any more because the FIA don't want the commercial side to overlap with the sporting side.
"But a commercial guy would have sorted out that mess in Indianapolis. After Indianapolis, my wife told me I should just let them all get on with it and that I didn't need all this. Maybe I'll be carried out in a box but before I leave I would like to see F1 in good shape.
"I want to stop all the nonsense about the breakaway, put all that crap to bed.
"I would like to put something in place where the teams inherit the business.
"They are happy with the FIA but they don't like Max Mosley. But when Max retires, pretty soon it will be 'come back Max, all is forgiven.'
"Before Max they all used to moan about his predecessor Jean-Marie Balestre. Nobody likes the referee.
"I don't take the threat of a breakaway seriously. If it happened, the FIA championship would continue. Maybe it would have different regulations but it would continue.
"There have been thousands of different formats and regulations over the years and lots of famous teams that have come and gone. Only Ferrari is still around.
"Do the public give a stuff about the engine manufacturers? Not really. But they do care about Ferrari. And Ferrari would still be in the FIA championship.
"Some people would like a breakaway to happen but there is no need for it.
"We could still fill our grid up if some of the manufacturers walked away. Absolutely we could.
"Their motive for the rival series is to get more money but if they do it, they will end up with a hell of a lot less.
"They will be competing with the FIA and the fans won't watch both series. So their revenues will be cut in half at the very least.
"We would have a whole bunch of new kids as drivers and we would be in a position to install a new set of regulations to ensure closer racing.
"We'd have a dictatorship again then where we could just tell everyone what the regulations were.
"I don't mind if someone else is the dictator. I'm not going to be around for ever."
And that is F1's problem. A future with Ecclestone in control is still bright. No-one knows the business like him.
A future without him is clouded with uncertainty and riven with faction because there is no-one with his force of character to replace him.
"Nobody is going to run the business like I do," he said. "Because I built it."
BERNIE ON..
The farce at Indianapolis
We were in the s**t.. In the old days I had more power and would have sorted out the mess
BERNIE ON..
Kimi Raikkonen
I felt for him when he got told off for being p****d. James Hunt used to stay out all night!
BERNIE ON..
A potential breakaway
It's crap.. Ferrari is the only team fans care about and they would stay with us
BERNIE ON..
His future as F1 chief
Wife says I don't need the hassle but I want to put the sport back in top shape
www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2005/07/09/exclusive-bernie-ecclestone-on-the-rampage-115875-15717724/
"... You have got to run Formula One like a boutique, not a supermarket..."
The rest of the article is interesting just to get another impression re Mr. Ecclestone. But nothing re football. (The author, Oliver Holt, has subsequently written "positive" pieces re Eccelstone/Briatore as QPR heads
The Mirror - EXCLUSIVE: BERNIE ECCLESTONE ON THE RAMPAGE By Oliver Holt, Chief Sports Writer 9/07/2005
Bernie Ecclestone's most controversial interview EVER
FORMULA ONE supremo Bernie Ecclestone last night launched a blistering verbal attack on the men who are trying to plunge the sport into civil war.
In his most revealing interview ever, Ecclestone said that his last wish as F1 chief was to head off the threat of a split.
The sport has lurched into chaos since team owners forced Ecclestone to loosen his grip, even though he made them all millionaires.
But on the eve of the British Grand Prix, Ecclestone, the promotional genius who turned F1 into a global phenomenon, said the sport needed a dictator again.
He said his wife Slavica had urged him to turn his back on the bunglers who turned last month's USGP into a farce.
And he ridiculed the bosses who run giant engine manufacturers like Mercedes, BMW and Renault for trying to set up a breakaway series starting in 2008.
"People who run big corporations are okay at ticking boxes but they make decisions and they do not understand the side-effects of the decisions," Ecclestone, 74, said. "We have got a few new kids on the block now. They don't know what they don't know. They put a hat on that says 'president' or 'chief executive' and they find themselves in a position above their ability.
"They are like guys who have read dirty books but have never been to bed with a woman.
"You can't turn the clock back but, if they are bright enough, they will realise they are meddling with something that did not need to be fixed.
"In time they will start to understand. Their egos will melt away quietly. At the moment the sport is a so-called democracy where everybody wants a say but nobody knows what to say.
"They seem to think they can try and run the sport as if it was a big company.
"But if they do that they will be in trouble. You have got to run Formula One like a boutique, not a supermarket.
"We have got people with massive egos in the sport now. They use Formula One to promote themselves.
"If I was in charge of a detective agency and I was looking for a hidden camera somewhere, I'd hire a couple of our team owners - they always seem to be able to find a camera wherever they are.
"But at the same time the sponsors and the teams seem to jump on anyone who has got a bit of character. I felt sorry for Kimi Raikkonen when he went out and got p***ed and was told it must never happen again. They made a big fuss about that. But I remember the days when the drivers used to be out all night and they'd come back and drive without having gone to bed.
"It's got so corporate now that I'm surprised some of the English teams don't send their drivers out on to the grid wearing bowler hats.
'What we need is another James Hunt."
Despite the growing power of the manufacturers - BMW just bought out Swiss team Sauber - Ecclestone is confident that the breakaway leaders will back down.
He is convinced he could have averted the farcical scenes in Indianapolis when only six cars took part in the race because Michelin didn't bring the right tyres for its teams.
"A few years ago we didn't have the democracy in the sport we have now," Ecclestone said. "If we had had an Indianapolis situation back then, I would have said 'we're in the s**t and we have got 100,000 people out there so what are we going to do about it? Can Bridgestone supply the tyres?'
"Whatever happened, we would have had a race. I can't do that any more because the FIA don't want the commercial side to overlap with the sporting side.
"But a commercial guy would have sorted out that mess in Indianapolis. After Indianapolis, my wife told me I should just let them all get on with it and that I didn't need all this. Maybe I'll be carried out in a box but before I leave I would like to see F1 in good shape.
"I want to stop all the nonsense about the breakaway, put all that crap to bed.
"I would like to put something in place where the teams inherit the business.
"They are happy with the FIA but they don't like Max Mosley. But when Max retires, pretty soon it will be 'come back Max, all is forgiven.'
"Before Max they all used to moan about his predecessor Jean-Marie Balestre. Nobody likes the referee.
"I don't take the threat of a breakaway seriously. If it happened, the FIA championship would continue. Maybe it would have different regulations but it would continue.
"There have been thousands of different formats and regulations over the years and lots of famous teams that have come and gone. Only Ferrari is still around.
"Do the public give a stuff about the engine manufacturers? Not really. But they do care about Ferrari. And Ferrari would still be in the FIA championship.
"Some people would like a breakaway to happen but there is no need for it.
"We could still fill our grid up if some of the manufacturers walked away. Absolutely we could.
"Their motive for the rival series is to get more money but if they do it, they will end up with a hell of a lot less.
"They will be competing with the FIA and the fans won't watch both series. So their revenues will be cut in half at the very least.
"We would have a whole bunch of new kids as drivers and we would be in a position to install a new set of regulations to ensure closer racing.
"We'd have a dictatorship again then where we could just tell everyone what the regulations were.
"I don't mind if someone else is the dictator. I'm not going to be around for ever."
And that is F1's problem. A future with Ecclestone in control is still bright. No-one knows the business like him.
A future without him is clouded with uncertainty and riven with faction because there is no-one with his force of character to replace him.
"Nobody is going to run the business like I do," he said. "Because I built it."
BERNIE ON..
The farce at Indianapolis
We were in the s**t.. In the old days I had more power and would have sorted out the mess
BERNIE ON..
Kimi Raikkonen
I felt for him when he got told off for being p****d. James Hunt used to stay out all night!
BERNIE ON..
A potential breakaway
It's crap.. Ferrari is the only team fans care about and they would stay with us
BERNIE ON..
His future as F1 chief
Wife says I don't need the hassle but I want to put the sport back in top shape
www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2005/07/09/exclusive-bernie-ecclestone-on-the-rampage-115875-15717724/