I don't usually call for sports bosses' heads to roll, but I think it's about time that Mr. Ecclestone did something for the sport he "loves" and tendered his resignation before Formula One becomes one of the biggest farces in today's world of sport.
Now, I have taken a break from Bleacher but feel that in the current time of crisis within the sport my comeback should be made—and should be made with an article that covers something I feel strongly about.
I expect some criticism on this article, but before this, I expect to get my point across.
Divorce and Public Image
The public image of Bernie Ecclestone has come under scrutiny more than ever recently, with the highly-publicised divorce of his wife, Slavica Ecclestone.
The divorce will see Bernie's £2.4billion net worth hit the courts sometime next year. The divorce was announced on 20 November by Mrs. Ecclestone's PR executive—Bernie was said to be shocked and surprised at the news.
Experts are saying that Slavica could be in for a record breaking settlement as many of her husband’s assets are in her name.
My first point would be this. A man going through a surprise divorce, and potentially a very costly one at that, after 24 years of marriage won't have his head in the game, I don't care what anyone says.
Medals? Are you drunk?
Although I feel the sub-heading says it all, I will fill you in as to why I think Bernie's latest idea needs to be nipped in the bud before it even takes off.
The scoring system in F1 has been around for years, it has produced some fantastic wins and some fantastic finales—the latest of which is the 2008 Brazilian Grand-Prix, this went right down to the wire and the Drivers Championship was only won in the final few corners of the race.
Now, you throw medals into the equation and you could end up with the Championship over half way through the season. We all know that at least one of the top teams struggle for the start of a season, but really pick up the pace towards the end.
If Ferrari or McLaren pick up the lion's share of the medals in the first half of the season because the rival team is struggling, it's pretty much game over.
My opinion on this matter is simple. If it's not broken, don't fix it. The points system works, it generates high-tension season endings, even if the FIA do have to make up some rules to ensure this, and the biggest point of all—it works—if medals are bought into F1, as Mr. Ecclestone is suggesting, then I will be loathed to even tune into the sport which, at one point in time, I loved.
Racist Comments in 2008
Although this has now been cleared up, many can't help but think that this episode could have been sorted out without so much publicity—publicity that made Bernie look more stupid than we all know he is.
Surely, the sensible thing to do would have been to keep the mis-understandings out of the media and make a few calls. Yes, I agree that the boss of F1 should speak to the media, but there are certain topics that you just don't mention unless asked- oh Bernie, did you forget that?
Age
Bernie is 78 years old. OK, so I'm not going to say that every 78 year old should be tucked up in bed in a nursing home, that would be wrong. But surely, at his time of life, Ecclestone should be stepping down.
It has been proven scientifically that humans perception of everyday incidents changes as we get older, and it has also been proven that our brains start to faulter and make mistakes after the age of 70. This is just a sad fact of life.
Surely then, at 78 years of age, the last thing the brain can deal with is running a multi-billion-dollar estate—especially when the vast majority of this estate is linked to one of the most technically advanced sports in the world—my grandma doesn't even know how to turn a desktop PC on and she's only 67-years old.
Technology changes and advances at the speed of light. How can someone who is only four-years away from the average life-expectancy of a UK male continue to comprehend such technology?
Formula One without Bernie
Well they always say, "The grass is greener," and in this case I believe this to be true.
Whether Bernie knows that he is coming to the end of his time in sport and is therefore making some changes to satisfy his own curiosity or whether he genuinely thinks that the changes he is making will benefit the sport.
Either way, I will tell you, from a fans point of view, that the changes being made at the moment are going to kill the sport that Ecclestone has put so many years of work into, and so many millions of dollars.
Bernie, retire now, enjoy what money you have left in your estate and let the sport go on at a time where it is still admired, do it before you destroy so many years of work and before you destroy the sport that so many people love.
This is my first article in a long time, so please go easy on me...
18 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Ryan Wood 7 months ago
Great to see your return Mr Poole!
Nice piece, reading it, I felt that this came from ur heart, I totally agree with it all.
He's an old codger, lets not beat around the bush, he should retire, with maybe a small role to play, but I emphasize the word 'small'
Medals = crazy, it'll hurt the consistent runners who score lots of 2nd places, i.e. Kubica
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Adam Poole 7 months ago
Cheers mate. Yeah I could feel my blood bubbling as I wrote it :)
Although this isn't a complete return I should be on at least once a week at the minute :)
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Jack klaver 7 months ago
I don't share some of your views Ryan. Don't underestimate Bernie's fierce businesss acumen, even at 78 YO. He may have seen the big bust coming, but i don't think he saw Slavica's knee to the groin coming at all!!
You just wonder what the settlement will do to the financial plight of an already precariously placed FOTA.
I do share your view though, that F1 is precariously placed through the ever present cancer that is corporate greed. We will lose Germany, Canada, I'm from Australia and I'm not sure if the race has much of a future here in Melbourne and France and these races are being replaced by the ever increasing desert tracks that no one goes to. Imagine if you will, the scenario we had played out at Sao Paulo, watched by a few Camels with corporate passes and granstand full of white turbans who clap politely because that's what you are supposed to do! None of the typical Latin pandemonium that creates such a sensational atmosphere because they love the sport. The corporate world has lost the plot and with it will go Formula One as we know it.
F1 will always be there, let's get some sanity back into the equation, Time to GO Bernie and Max, along with the other Corporate CEO's who have presided over the current financial malaise. 2009 is looking uglier than the cars we are forced to look at, numbering an abysmal 18 at the minute. I'm fully expecting Toyota to pull the pin for next year as well, their reason for competing, i.e. HONDA, has ceased to exist, so it would make sense for them financially as well to draw the curtain. That will leave 16 cars and would expose a financially weak Williams outfit to the prevailing winds as well. We can always have Camel Racing!
Jackdino1
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Michael Griffin 7 months ago
Nice return mate, when the medals come in, I think that the title will be decided by Monaco, and that is disgraceful. Plus, if it is Hamilton that wins it in record time, I guarantee everyone will blame him rather than Bernie.
He's an idiot, he looks like obi-wan-kanobi, and he needs to have a very long lie down.
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Adam Poole 7 months ago
Cheers Michael - glad you liked it.
He is indeed an idiot. As I said to Ryan, not a complete return but should be on here more than I have of late!
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Long John Silver 7 months ago
whats with the name-calling ?
I guess you if callin Bernie an idiot is fair .... then you are a bonehead and an concentrated mediocre idiot and a pip-squeak - Poole
come on - lets keep this above the belt
i know griffy gets carried a bit some times (federer retires YES), but lets keep this clean
bernie has done a lot for our sport,
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Michael Griffin 7 months ago
he's done a lot to hinder it, yes, right on there LJS.
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Adam Poole 7 months ago
Can see your point LJS - but this is just my opinion - Mr. Ecclestone has a right to an opinion.
Lets be honest - the only reason he remains in the sport now is for financial purposes...
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Billy Sexton 7 months ago
Nice comeback article.
I agree with you on all these points, Bernie needs to step down. Full stop. The medals idea is absolutley pathetic and I think that he could end up bruising Formula One if he doesn't leave now.
5*
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B Cave 7 months ago
Listen mate, you are right, but you are about 4 months too late. The 2 heads at the top of the brilliant sport of F1 should have rolled when a. one of them was caught in a dubiously themed, 5-prostitute 5-hour basement orgy, and yet had the arrogance and gall to think this would not affect his position, and b. neither of the 2 heads had the integrity and guts and leadership to condemn the Spa decision that stripped Lewis Hamilton of his justified win, and really started to make F1 seem like a pretty bad joke. Both of those incidences alone highlighted the canker, the rot at the core of F1 administration.
This latest medal farce is just another ludicrous incident which is an embarrassment to the sport. The issue isn’t Ecclestone’s age; it is that both he and Mosley are redundant, out of touch, supremely arrogant, and totally dismissive of the fans who actually allow F1 to exist. I am also quite convinced that at the heart of it all is a fear and almost unwitting prejudice against Lewis Hamilton and how he has come into the sport and made it look so easy making the other drivers look like also rans (yes, I know they are skilled too but the speed at which Lewis has conquered the sport is phenomenal). I think this, as well as deep seated racism, is why he is both so popular and unpopular with vast amounts of people. Ecclestone even unashamedly says the reason he wants this change is to eliminate what happened at the end of the F1 season this year. Is he stark raving MAD? 2008 was THE most exciting F1 season EVER, with the championship decided on the last corner of the last lap of the last race. How much more bloody exciting does he want it to be? He is devaluing Lewis’ championship by saying such a thing. As if Lewis didn’t fight tooth and nail for his 5th place in a car that didn’t have great performance on the Interlagos track, in order to win the championship. Just imagine if Massa had won with his “six” wins to Lewis’ five – there would be meltdown as the Spa decision would really devalue Massa’s championship.
The unfortunate situation we are faced with is that the 2 f***wits who head F1 have made their positions so powerful that unless they step down voluntarily, it will be almost impossible to remove them. They don’t seem to have the dignity or sense to step down. Who will do it? Who has the power? The fans certainly don’t and the craven immoral motoring organisations who voted Mosley back in certainly won’t. This is a dire situation for F1 and until these 2 dangerous clowns leave the top of F1, F1 is basically f***ed!
Oh and I nearly forgot: this is not to mention the disgraceful way neither of them really got to grips with the racism against Lewis by many Spanish Alonso fans, and Bernie’s disgraceful, disgusting, stupid comments that it was just a “joke”.
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Stephen Bailey 7 months ago
I agree, fully. He has done he sport some minor harm on occasions but mostly he has been good for F1. He is, however, showing signs of diminished performance (grounds for divorce?) and loss of awareness. If the Hamilton fans had bagged Alonso there would have been action. Racial prejudice is not confined to the WASP population, and by not addressing this he and Mosley have shown signs that they are no longer suitable for the positions they hold. Btw, 5 stars.
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Sam Devereaux 7 months ago
Great article. My own feelings about the matter stem mostly from the gradual destrcution of F1's traditional European/North American roots and it's artless relocation to super-circuits in the east that deliver none of F1's essential, traditional sprirt. This is clearly only because of money and I think that this alone proves that Bernie is out of touch. The sport is so super-rich it should focus on delivering top quality spectacle to it's core fanbase and to subsidise this if necessary.
As for Max, he acted like an idiot but he should still be applauded for the safety improvements he has brought to F1. Maybe he should take the same time and energy to improve the stewarding?
For what it's worth I think the racism thing was blown out of proportion. There has always been tasteless prejudice in F1 and it seems to me a little short-sighted to assume that the sport's first black driver has brought with him F1's first problems with racism. I was at Silverstone in 1995 and the anti-German abuse coming out of the mouths of some of the British fans was outrageous. That said, inevitable as it is, racism is unacceptable regardless of whether you're black or white. That didn't make Bernie's comments any less crass though. But what do you expect from a man who told Leonardo Senna on May 1st 1994 while chewing on an apple, "I'm sorry he's dead but we won't announce it until after the race."
Top quality stuff Adam, let's hope that as F1 existed quite happily for years before Ecclestone, it will continue to do so for years after he's gone.
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Barney 7 months ago
By far the best thing for Formula One would be for him to step down. He has done good stuff for it, no doubt, but things like the racist comments, or not condeming the comments made by others, have tainted his image. And at 78, with billions in the bank, its not as if he needs the money! Who would take over though? Great comeback article!
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Long John Silver 7 months ago
if you are gonna hold his divorce and image as reasons -
then thats a slippery slope, there are a number od Mr. Hyde's down the paddock !
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John Maccain ran for president US - he was high 70s and he did a good job
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its easy to say - retire, have you ever experienced giving up something youve done all your life ? if yes, let me know
we can talk more
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Sam Devereaux 7 months ago
What on Earth has John Mccain got to do with Formula One? I think you will find that most people, hold Mr. Eccelstone's extortionate behaviour and out-of-touch ideas as the reason he should go. Let's face it, Bernie wouldn't be sentimental about telling someone else he should step down if he thought he was past it, that's precisiely what he siad to Max Mosley earlier this year.
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Richard Deveau 7 months ago
I know people will probably bitch at me for this, but I'm kind of hoping Bernie screws up big.
I am a Formula 1 fan, even though that I do find most races to be kind of boring lately, but I love the Indycars and if F1 turns in a mess, Indycars will rise.
You forgot to mention in your article about the standardized engines that the FIA were talking about. If this happens, Ferrari, Honda, McLaren, BMW and Toyota have threatened to leave the sport. Where do they go next? There's all kinds of motorsports, but where do these manufacturers make big bucks, North America. Home of the Indycars. Honda is already there and with Audi joining in 2011, and possibly Porsche and Alfa Romeo joining in 2011, it will be a great engine lineup. Imagine if BMW, McLaren and Ferrari somehow decide to come now that they're done with F1.
And the fans who decided to abandon F1 because of Bernie. What's the closest thing to F1?...Indycars. Ok, maybe A1GP but they don't run at the same time so you can easily watch both. I would love to see Indycars become the top form of racing in North America again.
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Isuru Wakishta Arachchi 7 months ago
This is a perfect article. I agree wholeheatedly. But you better have appreciated what he has done in the past too :).
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Robert Clauss 7 months ago
Great, timely article. Ecclestone brought F-1 out of its original, rough form and crafted it into a sophisticated, and safer, package. In doing this, Bernie earned himself a fortune, and rightly so. However, who is this sport focused on serving now? It's not the fans. They are dealt with almost contemptuously, with vast areas like North America dismissed as unimportant. Large swaths of the grandstands in China looked to be empty. The European roots of F-1 are at risk, with France gone, Germany almost gone, and Belgium and Britain a perennial question mark. Does it serve the manufacturers? The factory teams participate in order to sell cars, and Bernie wants new races in Russia and India? The last few independent teams are only tolerated in order to fill out the grid. It appears that F-1 now serves only Bernie. His primary interest is in selling F-1 to the highest bidders, to whoever will subsidize a race without regard to gate receipts, in order to add some prestige to improve public opinion about their second or third world status.
As a long term strategy, this will result in fan, and participant, alienation. As TV ratings drop, the teams will look to more effective advertising methods, and other racing venues. If Bernie stays around, we will see the beginning of the end. The teams should demand his resignation as a condition of their participation, and soon.
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Richard Deveau 7 months ago
Once again, people might bitch about my comment, but I think Bernie put too much technology in his cars, making them so expensive.
Because he spent so much money in car technology, now he demands more money from countries who want to host a race. This resulted in France, Canada, Imola, USA, Silverstone and Nurburgring to leave F1. All great tracks. This could also result in Germany, Belgium and Australia to lose races.
So where does he go now? The rich part of the world(Asia, especially the middle east). But for some reason, this part of the country builds race tracks that are just plain boring. Sure they're beautiful and glamorous, but the racing stinks. I'm talking about tracks like Bahrain, China, Malaysia and Turkey. I've seen the prototype model for the new Abu Dhabi circuit, it really sucks. It's beautiful, just like the other tracks, but when it comes to good racing, you can easily tell this is not the track for it. And I thought Singapore would be great. You think with more than 20 corners, one of them could have been a good overtaking corner. The race was definitely glorious once again, but the racing was no good.
To me, F1 was better before they came out with the new technology. Nothing was better than F1 racing in the early 90's. The look of the cars were better at that time and the V12 engines sounded amazing. Maybe less safe, but there are so many ways you can make a safer racecar without putting so much expensive technology into it.
In my opinion, F1 has become more of a fashion show than a race and it's a damn shame.
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