Bernie: "Everyone's an idiot, except me"
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Well, that’s not quite what he said:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87526
F1 team bosses should spend more effort in making their teams better, rather than trying to rig the sport’s rules in their favour to gain an unfair advantage.
That is the view of Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who reckons teams fail to look at the global side of the sport in their search for victory.
The F1 boss said it was a question of “stupidity” rather than about egos.
I’m probably in a minority in that I tend to side with Bernie on this one. I don’t think the teams should be writing the rules – they should leave it to the FIA to do that and just compete under what they are given.
I know that some people think that the teams should own and run the sport themselves, but in my opinion that will never work. Let the teams get on with competing and allow the commercial and legislative sides of the sport to look after themselves.
The rules, fine, however the commercial side of F1? Well, it’s getting better as more money goes towards the teams people actually come out to watch, but I still think F1’s commercial side is evil.
I mean, sucsesfull, spectacular etc, but charging Brazil the usual 25Million a race, so that it can’t afford to upgrade a facility practically falling down the hill, and has to charge Brazilians that used to look up to Senna out of their Favelas extortionate money to see it? Booo, that side could be done more fairly.
On the other hand the best example in the world, of sports teams taking over their admin is the Premiership, most lucrative league in the world, hasn’t done them badly. FOTA is obviously very different. An they’ve prooved themselves very stupid all on there own I mean proximity wings? I ask you.
Yeh, look where freezing the teams out of the rule-making process nearly got us last year. There needs to be a balance.
And Bernie can talk, serious (medals) or not (shortcuts) he’s tried many a time to influence the rules of F1. It’s simply egotism – he thinks the teams can’t make the rules but he can.
I’m probably in a minority in that I tend to side with Bernie on this one.
Yep. I’m with you (and Bernie) on this one. This was the number one reason why a FOTA-led breakaway series would have failed: when it came to setting the rules, teams would simply try to give themselves the advantage.
I don’t mind the FIA setting the rules these days. The problem was the Mosley era, when all sorts of daft rules were passed every winter. I trusted the teams’ vision of F1 more than Mosley’s, but under Todt the FIA seems a far more competent organisation
Agree with you, Bernie and PM. The teams are competitiors and it’s just a huge conflict of interest. It’s good if they have an input but having control would just never work.
Also agree with Ned that things seem a lot more stable and hopeful under Todt than Mosley. Things are so much better now I feel.
Actually, thinking about this a bit more (and reading James Allen’s quotes on his website), you’d have to assume Bernie is coming out with these quotes in order to try and destabilise FOTA a bit and cut an early blow in this battle over TV money that is just getting started.
I thought perhaps all dealing would be done behind closed doors, with no more public slandering like in the Mosley era- looks like I was wrong…
There does need to be a separation between competitors and the rule book. For that we have the FIA, however, it also needs to be run competently which it hasn’t been in the past. I mean Mosley was bad, but by all accounts his predecessor was far worse. The teams should not be completely cut out of the running of the sport, their input is vital, in the end they are the sports beating heart. They have proved themselves capable, recently, of intelligently working together for the good of the sport. After all what is good for the sport as a whole tends to be good for them, the new generation of team bosses seems to realize this. They tend to regulate each other fairly well as well, Mercedes won’t let Renault blatantly twist the rules if they have an equal say. The FIA’s role should be to take opinions then have the final word. Since the organisation seems to have ended it’s role as Ferrari’s plaything, the teams having an active role in what they think the rules look like, with the FIA as the ultimate authority in the end doesn’t strike me as a bad way to keep the rule book in the right shape. An as technology constantly changes the game, the rules will always have to keep evolving.
Commercially, F1 has benefited on the whole from it’s aggressive corporate outlook under Bernie Ecclestone, in some ways at the expense of it’s soul. However, there is no reason for the commercial direction and operational side of the sport not to be in place for the benefit of the sport alone. Track upgrades, better viewing, HD, more money for the teams, particularly smaller teams, investments in grassroots karting programmes in deprived nations, could all be funded by the profits generated by F1. Not for the pockets of Bernie Ecclestone or faceless, money-grabbing, self-interested CVC.
The FIA and FOTA should keep a reasonable distance apart.
Of course FOTA should have a degree of input into how the sport is governed but keeping them seperate keeps them on their toes. I like mid-season or end-season rule changes..such as the Double Diffuser and F-Duct ban at the end of this year. I like to see what the teams will come up with next!
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