In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone says German bank BayernLB, who intend to launch a £244m legal battle against him, have “picked the wrong person” to go up against.
Pass of the Year
Voting is still open for best overtaking move of 2013. Make your selection from the top ten nominations here:
Links
Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.
F1’s Ecclestone says will fight BayernLB damages claim (Reuters)
Ecclestone said his lawyers had told him the vast majority of such damages claims were settled out of court, but he had no intention of doing so. “They picked the wrong person with me,” said the British billionaire.
Sauber boss says F1 is ‘flawed’ (Autosport)
“There is something terribly flawed in the system. For me it starts with what the system and the sport is about – and it is about different teams, not the big teams and the big budgets.”
Tweets
Dear Followers, I have never received any offers and I have not resigned from LF1. Thanks for your support
— Eric Boullier (@eboullier) December 14, 2013
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
The latest Caption Competition attracted many funny entries including those from Suvan Naidu, Jack, Alex Brown, Mitch, Timothy Katz, Chris and Cjpdk.
But the one I picked as the winner was this from @Ledzep4pm:
Raikkonen: “So you guys get paid when you win races?”
From the forum
- Gran Turismo 6 has been out for a few days now and several F1 Fanatic readers are sharing their progress here
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Steph90 and John White!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
It’s seven years since Clay Regazzoni lost his life in a road car accident in Italy. The five-times grand prix winner, who finished runner-up in the 1974 world championship, was a prominent character in the recent film Rush, about the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
15th December 2013, 1:33
My birthday too, but it might just be buried in the list ;)
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
15th December 2013, 2:33
@vettel1 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATE ! :) I PMed you yesterday on Facebook, what a coincidence :P
Have a nice one ! sad it’s away from F1, tho, but you can’t have everything :)
Ivan (@wpinrui)
15th December 2013, 2:34
@vettel1 Happy birthday then!
Colossal Squid (@colossal-squid)
15th December 2013, 3:14
@vettel1 Happy birthday!
Pandaslap (@pandaslap)
15th December 2013, 3:21
@vettel1 Happy birthday!
OmarR-Pepper (@)
15th December 2013, 3:37
@vettel1 Happy birthday, what a coincidence it’s also my brother’s birthday today!
Greetings for my little English brother.
andae23 (@andae23)
15th December 2013, 7:55
Happy birthday :)
David not Coulthard (@)
15th December 2013, 8:30
@vettel1
Yet another happy birthday!
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
15th December 2013, 8:36
I’m overwhelmed by the number of birthday wishes! Thank you @davidnotcoulthard, @andae23, @omarr-pepper, @pandaslap, @colossal-squid, @wpinrui and last but not least @fer-no65!
Also, happy birthday to your brother too @omarr-pepper and I shall check my notifications @fer-no65 :P
Piotr Koteryl (@stigrennfahrer)
15th December 2013, 9:18
Many happy returns @vettel1! Have a wonderful day!
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
15th December 2013, 10:40
Thank you and you too @stigrennfahrer!
karter22 (@karter22)
15th December 2013, 11:29
@vettel1 Happy birthday!
DaveF1 (@davef1)
15th December 2013, 11:46
@vettel1 Happy birthday :-)
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
15th December 2013, 16:39
@vettel1
Better late than never, happy birthday to my old time arch rival alongside @omarr-pepper
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
15th December 2013, 17:20
We’re all friends here @tifoso1989, it’s the spirit of the competition ;)
Thank you and the more recent wishers in @davef1 & @karter22! :D
OmarR-Pepper (@)
15th December 2013, 18:37
@tifoso1989 hahaha great comment. Hey, what really worries me about next year is how all the fanbases here in F1F are commenting the same about the downer that will be the points system. I’ll keep wishing it changes before Australia.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
15th December 2013, 18:39
I mean, it doesn’t worry me that we agree, it worries me the seriousness of the situation and how 2014 is already spoiled in my opinion..
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
15th December 2013, 18:04
@vettel1 Happy birthday champ ;-) ! Enjoy :D
Nathan (@il-ferrarista)
15th December 2013, 20:18
Happy birthday ;)
BasCB (@bascb)
16th December 2013, 7:35
A belated happy birthday wish then @vettel1.
And off course to @Steph90 and John as well
Journeyer (@journeyer)
15th December 2013, 1:35
Can I just say, I LOVE Keith’s choice of pic.
1. Bernie is the top story, so he gets centerstage.
2. Eric Boullier leaving Lotus may be the big Silly Season story of the month, and he’s right behind Bernie.
3. Bernie is flanked by two Force India employees – Eric is rumored to be moving to Force India – and Eric is looking in their direction too!
verstappen (@verstappen)
15th December 2013, 7:25
If Bernie were a good looking girl, I would say Eric’s checking her behind.
…oh no maybe he was!
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
15th December 2013, 18:05
@verstappen LOL , now when you said this , I went back to the pic and looked at Boullier’s face …LOL LOL
Ian D
15th December 2013, 2:01
Bernie vs the bankers, this should be fun, he has the money to fight back & will claim every penny of expense back if he wins, can the bank afford it? I wonder who’ll back down first?
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
15th December 2013, 8:27
It is a state owned bank, so I believe that they can afford it.
Mads (@mads)
15th December 2013, 10:45
@mike-dee
That won’t stop Bernie from either:
A) Make sure that they accidentally get the bank manager’s kneecaps broken with a hammer in the back of a van.
B) Simply buy Germany and sack all of them on the spot.
@HoHum (@hohum)
15th December 2013, 2:18
Yeah Bernie, Bernie is a fighter, he’s not the type of person to take the easy way out and offer a financial reward to people who try to shake him down, these bankers have picked the wrong guy to go up against, what were they thinking?
Mackeine Loveine (@cocaine-mackeine)
15th December 2013, 2:20
Man, Kalterborn made my day with his opinion about F1.
Lateralus (@lateralus)
15th December 2013, 2:49
her
Eleanore (@leucocrystal)
15th December 2013, 2:52
*Her.
johnny stick
15th December 2013, 4:04
I think the wealth needs to be spread a little more. Give more to the lower teams and less to the higher teams. This would probably help level the playing field a little more. Maybe take away some of Bernie’s money; His daughter doesn’t need another mansion in Brentwood.
CNSZU
15th December 2013, 5:41
You vote for Labor I presume?
Piotr Koteryl (@stigrennfahrer)
15th December 2013, 9:20
+1 – you got there before I could
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
15th December 2013, 9:53
And without that mansion in Brentwood, Tamara Ecclestone would be loosed upon the world. I imagine the consequences of that would be rather like the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
George (@george)
15th December 2013, 12:59
Yeah lets give them money for losing, that’s a great incentive to improve.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
15th December 2013, 18:32
Might be interesting. It works well for the NFL in the states.
http://basketball.about.com/od/nba-vs-nbapa/ss/Revenue-Sharing-And-North-Americas-Major-Pro-Sports-Leagues_2.htm
Mark Stockwell
15th December 2013, 2:51
Monisha Kalterborn is a “She” not a “He”.
Mark
Patrick (@paeschli)
15th December 2013, 12:47
What about the rumour that Boullier might leave Lotus?
Kimi4WDC
15th December 2013, 23:08
Can Sauber Boss please get to work, stop whining and bringing everyone down to their level. If we wanted no development and 100% equal cars there are plenty of other Motorsport options. This is F1 and maybe YOU are in the wrong category, not F1.