Ecclestone would like to become 'dictator' again
- Published on 28 Apr 2016 11:47
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- By: Rob Veenstra
Bernie Ecclestone on Wednesday said he would like to become F1's "dictator" once again. Speculation in recent days has suggested the sport's major carmakers including Ferrari may be moving against the F1 supremo, in a bid to see his long reign ended. Ecclestone, 85, confirmed to the Russian sports newspaper Sovetsky Sport that he is not happy with the status quo. "I have often complained and now I complain again -- our structure is wrong," said the Briton.
"We have allowed Ferrari and Mercedes to run us. How? They supply engines to most of the teams and they (the engines) are very important to those teams. When we try to come up with something new, we need cooperation from the participants in the championship. This is what is wrong," Ecclestone said.
"This is what happens when democracy does not work. We need to go back to the good old days, when we built formula one into what it is today. When I was in a much stronger position. When I was a dictator!" he added. "But with the current democracy, we have people manipulating the sport in their own interests," said Ecclestone.
Another problem, he explained, is that Mercedes is totally dominating in the current 'power unit' era, which is affecting F1's popularity. "I hope that Ferrari will have a strong year," said Ecclestone, "and if they get a good engine Red Bull will also be better. Competition is necessary for everyone, most importantly the fans," he added.
"I can understand that Mercedes doesn't want to change anything, as they have invested a lot of work and money into their engines and don't want to lose that advantage. But there is nothing worse than the dominance of one team. Eventually, people begin to suspect that the competition is not on a level playing field," said Ecclestone.
"People complain to me now that they have lost that feeling of looking forward to the race on Sunday, because everyone knows that Mercedes will win again. Believe me, I don't care who wins the next grand prix," Ecclestone said ahead of the Russian grand prix. "If Lewis (Hamilton) wins his fourth title this year -- great! I just want him to do it in the last corner of the last race, not with seven races to go in the season." (GMM)
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Replies (8)
Login to replymclarenfan1968
Posts: 1,027
No, just go out of existence already. Do the sport, the human race and the planet a favor, just go away. You are now nothing more than an oxygen thief.
Pompey
Posts: 84
I take it you are not a fan then?
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Thank you Bernie, but no thanks. Feel free to leave whenever it pleases you.
f1dave
Posts: 782
Agreed, Bernie is past it, but the sport needs rules set by the FIA, not by the participants. The reason for all the problems is all the factions keep trying to pull the rules to their advantage with their veto's etc. A strong administration is needed.
khasmir
Posts: 893
He doesn't need to be more of a dictator than he already is. The problem is Todt, he wants to let everything be decided in a democratic way which is not working. That's where we need a dictator like Mosly was.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
He should definitely be in charge more than he is.
RacetoWin
Posts: 95
Mercedes has been building F1 race engines for a long time, now they are building a great chassis, its about time they get rewarded.
Renault and Honda should not have an engine token restriction in place until they are contending for wins.
teams should also be allowed to test, this would help get 4 or 5 teams fight for the top spot.
Bernie is a mad man, teams could just walk away and start their own series.
i miss the Days when F1 brought innovation in design to the track, the aero and chassis rules are way to restrictive and cars look basically the same. relax the rules and let the teams innovate like they did in the 70's and 80's. just limit the power to weight ratio and wheelbase.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I very much agree, the problem is that could lead to another aero intense era, and quite a number of fans do not want that.