Bernie Ecclestone, enemy of F1

[ozzy72]

I'm not a big F1 fan (unlike the wife), but this disgusted me, I think Bernie is more interested in feathering his own nest in kick-backs than he is in the sport...

The British Grand Prix has been dropped from the motor racing calendar for the first time in Formula One history in a row over the multi-million pound deal to promote the Silverstone race.
The British Racing Drivers' Club, which owns and runs the Northamptonshire circuit, had to submit an offer to promote the 2005 Grand Prix which met the approval of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
Ecclestone reportedly wanted

[Craig.]

I have said this to many people about Bernie, He needs to go, its his fault F1 is so expensive for teams, its his fault that they dont get the right payoff, with most of the money going into his back pocket. This guy doesnt give a damn about F1 all that matters to him is the money. Silverstone has put so much money into refurbishing its facilities its unbelievable, its no secret Bernie didnt want a British race, they say a street race is what fans want, but hey there isnt a city in the UK able to hold one. When truthfully the only city in the UK which can hold one here, is Birmingham, and has done before and will be re-starting its street race in 2 years. We cant afford to loose the British grand prix and its certainly time for the government to do something. Max Mosely and the drivers need to pull their heads out their asses and boycot Ecclestone and his position in F1, he is nothing but bad news for the sport. I can say as a life long fan of the sport if the British GP isnt on the map next year i wont be watching at all

[ozzy72]

Agreed Craig, the day Ecclestone got the contract I stopped watching, I know its an odd thing to say, but I couldn't trust anyone with that haircut, I mean at his age
Its worse than wearing a tank-top

[Fly2e]

Funny you should post this Mark. NASCAR has been bidding to build a brand new track here in New York on Staten Island. It wold be the closest in the circuit for me. Closest is Dover, which I attend every year but is 4 hours away, Pocono which is three and Watkins Glen which is 4 also. Staten Island is an hour away so this was really exciting news for many people in the Tri-State area. You see, Nascar is HUGE over here and yesterday the investors and developers met with the Mayor, Micheal bloomberg to pitch him the idea of finally bringing Nacsar to the area. Micheal Bloomberg shrugged off the entire concept like it was nothing. he said, "I go to Staten Island twice a week and sit in mile of traffic, we don't need something like this. If you want to watch cars chase each other in circles then do it someplace else"! What an arse! To me that is just somebody who has no concept of the jobs and money it would bring into that part of the state. He reminds me of a narrow minded person that thinks auto racing is for red necks and beer bellied men. If he did a little homework he would see that NASCAR makes more money on a whole than football and baseball! It is a multi million dollar big business with huge sponsors and great role models for kids. But he will back a multi million dollar stadium in the middle of Manhattan which will really cause problems!  ::)

Sorry, just venting a bit, this has been in the works for years and Bloomeberg basically just said "go play with your cars some place else"! because he see's nothing great about it

Dave

[Craig.]

While i can see why your upset about that Fly, and yes once again the wonders of politics shows its ugly head, at least you can still go and see a Nascar race without a huge amount of hassle although 4 hours drive could be considerable hassle. The problem with this situation is it leaves Britain without a grand prix completely. I was actually looking forward to going next year as i was finally close enough for it to be an option. The closest Grand prix would now most likely be Belguim or the french grand prix, which when you include a plane ride hire cars hotel or taxi, its just not viable to most british fans

[Hagar]

I've seen this coming for a long time. Can't say I'm surprised. That fiasco with the car parking at Silverstone some years ago didn't help. There was a suggestion of holding the British Grand Prix in London. As Craig mentioned, street courses seem to be what they want, never mind that they're obviously more dangerous for the drivers & the crowd. Maybe that's a big attraction for the punters. I know Mayor Ken Livingstone is keen on the idea but I can't really see it happening.

PS. I was a big fan but I gave up following F1 two seasons ago. I tried watching a couple of races this year & fell asleep half way through. The way things are going there will only be a couple of teams left in it.

[Fly2e]

Sorry Craig, I guess I was speed reading Ozzy's Post! I feel for you, that is really ashame!  :'(

Mark, it is time to get out the Marmalade!

And yes Craig, The Dover race is not bad. I leave on Friday with a few buds, party all weekend in the parking lot on Saturday, get inebriated Saturday night, then watch the race all day Sunday! Monday morning is when I leave!   :-/

Dave

[eno]

I have to say this has come as no suprise.... Although Bernie Ecclostone was saying only a few months ago in his in imitable and evasive way that all this blustering and bullying Silverstone was just to make them pull their fingers out and make more improvements to the  circuit. I guess he wasnt blustering.

F1 needs to get its act together.. its far and away the richest sport in the world and should be in a position to fund track improvements to meet its own requirements. Once again we see that "Management" is lining its own pockets at the expense of the end user ... THE FANS..

One wonders if Monaco is the next to go ........ even though I noticed that they have improved the pit lane there.... but then again I forget ... Monaco is one of the richest places on earth.

As a quick side note to this ....... There is an attempt to introduce a rival to F1. A Saudi Prince is funding a one engine formula based on national teams .... ERGO if the car is built in the UK then the drivers etc have to be from the UK. There wasnt much more detail in the report only that the UK is the first area after Saudi to sign up for the franchise.

cheers
eno

[Craig.]

Hi Dave, If you can make a weekend out of it, a drunken weekend at that, then a 4 hour drive isnt so bad:) i am honestly surprised though that New York City itself hasnt actually got a nascar race, like you said it would be a huge thing for jobs even if they are only temp, but also it would be huge for attendance just think of all those in the city who dont want a 4 hour drive to see a race or cant make a weekend out of it. Something tells me a few thousand complaints will change his mind, but then again isnt he worried about some new stadium for the Giants, of all teams, or was it the Jets LOL i hope you get your track, and i am sorry if my comments came across as rude, i was in my angry rant mode, made worse by my laptopl threatening to die

Hagar, I dont know why they want street courses more and more i guess because it slows down the cars, again it comes back to money because now advertisers logos and slogans can be read. I dont really see them being any more dangerous, look at a circuit like Monza with a top speed in excess of 230mph or Indy with its high speed spots ending with concrete walls, road circuits arnt to bad. The big problems for them is logistics, London is not suited to a street race, the streets are just too narrow and used way to much to be closed for the minimum 4 days. Again i come to birmingham they have a good layout for a circuit hell anyone who has been here and driven round the streets knows high speed passing is pleantiful here large paying crowds are a problem with this sort of race, the streets of London arnt exactly the exotic location of Monte Carlo. i think ferrari are correct in saying there needs to be an F1 revolution.

[Craig.]

One wonders if Monaco is the next to go ........ even though I noticed that they have improved the pit lane there.... but then again I forget ... Monaco is one of the richest places on earth

No chance, with half the drivers living there it actually gives them a nice chance to have an extra break, plus its one of the highest paying races.

As a quick side note to this ....... There is an attempt to introduce a rival to F1. A Saudi Prince is funding a one engine formula based on national teams .... ERGO if the car is built in the UK then the drivers etc have to be from the UK. There wasnt much more detail in the report only that the UK is the first area after Saudi to sign up for the franchise

It'll fail, too many have tried and failed. F1 has an unlimited budget sadly that goes into the management pocket most of the time , Formula Renault ring a bell? Formula ford?
Personally i think only one open wheel series stands a chance of being a competitor and thats the Indy car series, what they need to do though is expand beyond the US, japan was a start, and perhaps adding a few more circuits could easaly make it a top contender

[Hagar]

Hagar, I dont know why they want street courses more and more i guess because it slows down the cars, again it comes back to money because now advertisers logos and slogans can be read. I dont really see them being any more dangerous

I was thinking more of the typical state of the average road in this country. Maybe they should try racing round the M25. That would sort out the men from the boys.

Also, where would they put the spectators?

[Craig.]

In the backs of the transit vans which cruise in the middle lane, call them chicanes

[Jaffa]

Isn't the Staten Island track supposedly a road course?  In that case, I'm all for it.

Hagar:  If you went to sleep right before a NASCAR race came on, and slept all the way through, it would be more exciting than the race!(no worries t NASCAR fans)

I also thought I heard rumors that New York City was a possible venue for a Formula 1 street race.  

I think the best thing that could happen to New York City is a football(the real football...not pointy ball)stadium in the city.  It would be awesome if it could play neutral venue to major European cup games.  Yes, I know, I'm out of my mind.  One can dream....

[Craig.]

maybe some good news, wonder how many threats of his job it took
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=31272

[Jaffa]

I think this sums it up pretty well:  

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2876&item=5127888055&rd=1