Liberty ‘don’t want me at F1 races’ – Ecclestone

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In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone says Liberty Media’s top personnel don’t want him attending grands prix despite his emeritus position within Formula One.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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50 comments on “Liberty ‘don’t want me at F1 races’ – Ecclestone”

  1. I can understand Vettel saying that Raikkonen is the teammate that he has gotten on with the most, but I still get the impression that he wouldn’t be as happy if Raikkonen had been giving him more of a challenge.

    I’m interested to know which of all of his teammates that Raikkonen thinks is the best.

    1. @3dom I’d presume, Kimi has not spared a second of thought about that question and thus really does not know.

      1. Kimi: ‘My teammates change? I hadn’t noticed.’

    2. Vettel didn’t have very strong teammates at STR, RedBull or Ferrari. I mean, Webben was good but not great and Raikkonen was great from 2002-2007 and in 2012 after h8s comeback but nowadays well over his prime.

      His only really good teammate was Ricciardo in 2014 and he got beaten pretty badly…

      1. True, difficult to assess his talent. Never had any opposition (except for Ricciardo) within his teams and always won from the front. I guess his performance of the last 3 years says it all… sometimes fast but overall not a supertalent

  2. Really hate to say this, but I feel I ought to express my disapproval (for which I’m sorry), it dramatically lowers the standard of the roundup having a daily mail article about Bernie Ecclestone, especially having it as the top article on what is generally a very high standard website

    Comment of the day is absolutely brilliant! Well done

    1. @strontium, Well the choice to read is yours, I’m laughing, poor old Bernie, has to speak to the Daily Mail to get himself in the papers now.

      1. I can’t believe it has taken so long for the truth to sink in with Bernie …. he was finished the day Liberty took over and not before time. He did some great and wonderful things for F1 but I am afraid he lost the plot somewhere along the road.

        1. yep, Bernie did a lot of good in his day, but the world moved on and he couldn’t keep up anymore. He had been holding the sport back for years.

          1. Am I missing something? “Bernie did a lot of good in his day” – what are these “great and wonderful things” Bernie did? Let’s be real, the man was greedy and did everything he could to be a dictator instead of a leader. Good riddance. I can’t imagine why Ross Brawn for one wouldn’t want him gone, Bernie tried to bid against Ross in the purchase of the Honda team then didn’t pay them any commercial rights for half of 2009.

          2. Re the dolphins: well he took a relatively niche sport to become a global event broadcast live on television. He brought in Sid Watkins in 1978, back when the sport was truly dangerous. And he always had watkins’ back on the latter’s crusade to make f1 the safe sport it was before he died, After which his man who took over from him was booted and not two years later people were racing in unacceptable conditions and were dying again

          3. @mrboerns, he also helped push for tracks to have proper medical facilities after the death of Rindt, as the standard of medical facilities at the time were bad to non-existent. This was a period when the drivers themselves paid for their own mobile medical unit to come to tracks, only for most circuit owners to refuse to allow entry to it because to do so would effectively be an admission that their own medical facilities were not up to scratch.

      2. I am sure the management of the paper are exactly “his kind of chaps” @hohum. But yeah, it’s a bit sad to see a man like Ecclestone even feels the need to try and get in on the action somehow now that the sport finally managed to cut him loose. Surely he knows perfectly well, why they are not keen to have him in (and probably had him sign an agreement that keeps him from giving his opinion on things), that was one of the steps towards better management of the sport.

        1. Agree @bascb,
          Ecclestone certainly did some very constructive things in his earlier
          days, but as his power grew he instilled fear and loathing in an
          awful lot of really fine F1 people. He used his enormous power
          as a weapon and people do not forget when they are treated abominably.
          The man must realise that his day is over and his legacy is seriously
          tarnished by some pretty disgusting events he orchestrated.
          Time to go to Switzerland Mr B Ecclestone and buy lots of gnomes
          and trolls to decorate your wilderness garden.

    2. Daily Mail notwithstanding, I saw that article, read it, and thought “well, Bernie still has friends in the media”.

      1. @mog
        He is rich so that’s not too surprising!

    3. tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
      16th October 2017, 8:06

      @strontium I agree, I think he’s best ignored completely. What annoys me is that he seems to expect sympathy from people. He and his sidekick Mosley were a complete disgrace – burdened the sport with billions of debt (we all know where that money went), made stupid rule changes and treated people appallingly. And the UK will lose terrestrial F1 coverage in 2019, thanks Bernie!

      1. @thegrapeunwashed, isn’t there an argument that the BBC’s director of sports should face some criticism given that they were the one who initiated the talks with SkyF1 that gave them the foot into the sport they wanted, amid claims that they did so because they didn’t want to let Channel 4 get it (only for the BBC to eventually give up and let Channel 4 have it anyway)?

        Besides, isn’t the core business of Liberty Media based on their subscription services? Given that they’ve already talked about offering their own subscription services, I wouldn’t be surprised if they would have got rid of free to air coverage in the UK as well – it’d just be a case of paying a different company instead.

        1. @anon Sky were competing with BT Sport for the rights post-2018, with the current FTA deal (w. C4) still on the table. Sky, in order to see off BT Sport, over-bid with the stipulation that they would become the sole broadcaster in the UK. There’s some muddy FTA requirement, but that’s seems to only require them to put the British GP on one of their MIX channels.

          It’s got a bit better recently as BSkyB have recognised people don’t buy their Sports package for *all* sports so they’ve segmented the channels, meaning you can now just buy the F1 channel along with the basic TV package – still a huge outlay for most families given our economy is in the toilet because ‘reasons’…

    4. Well it’s a least another chance for us to say we won’t miss him.

  3. I’m so happy that Bernie is gone. He recognized an opportunity and brought F1 very far. But like many powerful people, he became an autocrat that had no relationship with reality. He truly believed his every thought was the word of god and all others should fall in line.

    Good riddance.

  4. Liberty is not alone!

  5. It’s not just Liberty, Bernie.

    Wipe your tears with all those bank notes.

  6. Was Ecclestone still around? Thought he’d gone already. The Formula 1 air has been a lot fresher this year.

  7. He can buy a weekend ticket.

    1. Too right. Here’s a link for sad, old (but not poor) Bernie.
      https://tickets.formula1.com/en/3320-united-states-fom/

    2. @tiya

      He thinks the ticket prices are too high.

  8. There are some people so poor that the Only thing they have is money.

    1. Great line, I’ll remember that one!

  9. No surprise that Kimi is Vettel’s favourite teammate. Kimi doesn’t have the pace to challenge him, nor does he really have any interest in fighting for a WDC. Apolitical? More like doesn’t give 2 cents for what the team does with him anyways.

    Funny how Vettel mentions that he doesn’t decide his teammate. Considering how hard he was pushing to retain Kimi for 2018. I’d love to see Vettel lose another couple of WDCs and WCCs with Ferrari, before they draft in a fast, young talent to give Vettel a Ricciardo style thrashing.

    1. Yeah, certainly not an overall positive for the team

    2. Kimi not being political was always his greatest flaw as a driver and a main reason why he only has one title with Ferrari while could’ve had a second one in 2008. All great Ferrari drivers know that you’ll have to get the team around to your way of thinking. Prost demoting Mansell to a number two and Schumacher’s number two’s come to mind.

      As a Ferrari fan I’ve been quite jealous about the driver pairing their rivals had these previous years.
      If Hamilton had a day off you could be sure Rosberg would be there to pick up the scraps instead. Same with Verstappen and Ricciardo as results have shown this year. Raikkonen is always too far back to make a difference which allows Red Bull to come between him and Vettel and it hurts them so much in the constructors.

      The last time the guys in red had equal status was 2007-2008 with Massa and Raikkonen.
      I cheered for Kimi in 2007 and I was sad when Massa lost it in 2008. I don’t care who wins just as long he’s wearing red. I could care less if Vettel gets thrashed by his future teammate be it Leclerc, Verstappen or Ricciardo. Then it’s up to him to raise his game like Rosberg did in 2016.

      1. Pffft Rosberg didn’t raise his game in 2016. Hamilton just had a lot more mechanical issues.

        Also, the only reason Rosberg would come in 2nd was because that car was so much ahead of the rest. At times it wasn’t and then Rosberg would be just as far down from Hamilton as Bottas is now.

        It was a whole lot easier for Rosberg to be 3 tenths to half a second down on Hamilton when the rest was a lot slower still. Bottas doesn’t have that luxury.

  10. RE: Bernie, ‘Liberty don’t want me at F1 races’ – I should think not! Who wants their ex wife at the table when they’re dating someone new??!!

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      16th October 2017, 9:10

      I never knew Liberty Media’s ex wife was Bernie Ecclestone! Guess I’ve just learned something! :D

      1. Bernie is F1’s ex wie, Liberty the new one….

  11. Lots of talented former F1 drivers find jobs elsewhere in motosport. Palmer would make a fine Formula E driver I think.

    These young men are exceptionally talented, just not maybe quite F1 material. It could be as simple as to tall, to heavy for F1, or slow to adapt to F1 changes…

    He could also be a journalist.. Like Nico Rosberg hehe.

  12. @jureo

    He could also be a journalist.. Like Nico Rosberg hehe.

    For sure.

  13. Of course Kimi is Vettel’s favourite team mate.

    He doesn’t challenge him and is a defacto #2 driver.

    Until Ferrari bring in a driver who can challenge Vettel regularly they will never win the constructors with the RB pairing and the Merc pairing.

  14. So wait, Ricciardo pretty much wiped the floor with Vettel in 14, and he isnt his best teammate? The guy who beat you fair and square isnt your best teammate? I dont get it.

    This is Seb playing his usual politics. I dont buy it and it appears that most of us on here dont either. He suggest that he doesnt make the call on who his teammate is, but he held off signing his extension until Kimi was confirmed. This is sort of comment is basically trying to justify his and Ferrari’s position.

    Your teammate is strong if he consistently qualifies alongside you, finishes the race just behind or ahead of you barring unforeseen circumstances, none of which Kimi does.

    So yeah…

    1. @jaymenon10 He doesn’t mean “best” as in “best” driver, but “best” as in “least of a problem” for Vettel.

  15. That Massa picture is so nostalgic! It makes you realize that when a Formula 1 driver belongs to the 2000’s/10s era, as a go-kart driver he belongs to an era 20-30 years earlier, i.e. the 80’s and 90’s.
    The picture must’ve been taken in 1990, back in the times when Brazil had the multiple F1 WDCs Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna fighting for Formula 1 glory, whilst the former F1 champ – Emerson Fittipaldi, was winning races in IndyCar.
    Little Felipe must’ve shared his dream with millions of other Brazilian boys.

    Although that hay day sparked a generation of very good-to-excellent Brazilian racing drivers, from the Barrichellos and Massas in F1 to the De Ferrans, Kanaans and Castro-Neveses in IndyCar, none of them won any major championship, apart from De Ferran’s 2 CART championships in 2000-01 (and perhaps Kannan’s 2004 IRL win), let alone becoming a household name in the history of motorsport.

    1. When the ’90s came around Piquet was past his prime. The Benetton-Ford he was driving was a good car but it wasn’t as good as the Ferrari or McLaren.

  16. Of course Carey, Bratches and co. don’t want Bernie at the Grand Prix. Imagine, as they try to pour oil on yet more troubled waters, (Silverstone, Malaysia, etc) having a little, white haired, old man holding court with the press, and watching first hand the whole shooting match go tits up.
    He offered them his experience and they pushed him aside eager to get to the perceived pot of gold, which turned out to be iron pyrite.

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