Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone attempted to qualify for a single World Championship event. He was in a Connaught-Alta, one of a fleet of three entered by himself. He finished qualifying 265.2 seconds off the pace, and his two team-mates failed to qualify as well.

He is, however, the most important single person in Grand Prix history. He took charge of Motor Racing Developments in 1972, from Ron Tauranac. He was the team principal for Nelson Piquet's two drivers' titles, but he'd lost interest by the time Brabham missed the deadline to enter the 1988 World Championship.

Into the governance of the sport he went, and he modernised it, and quickly controlled Formula One. He is now the leader of a billion-dollar industry. He is a divisive figure, but he's not done badly for someone who was four minutes off the pace on a Saturday in Monaco.

 

[FB]

Still reflecting in the glory of the 2008 FA Cup win thanks

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Very interesting interview with his Bernieships.

http://www.campaignasia.com/Article...e+Ecclestone+on+his+billion-dollar+brand.aspx

 

[The Artist.....]

Yep. Apparently young people who go on interwebs and use Twitbook and Faceter are of no interest to F1, as they don't have any money.

Bernie has lost it completely. CVC really need to get rid as soon as possible. He has lost sight of the thing that made F1 wealthy; mass market appeal. TV companies will not continue to pay for the sport if it only goes after a small group of rich individuals. Without TV, F1 is completely screwed, as countries will no longer pay vast sums of money to host Grand Prix (I see this model imploding very soon anyway).

Bernie will have destroyed a sport.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Yes I agree with Bernie that the younger generation can't afford to watch the sport compared to the older generation but F1 needs the next generation of fans, how many of us have been F1 fans since our childhood?

 

[Dash Racing]

Speaking as someone of the generation that's been dubbed "The Forgotten Generation"... actually, generally speaking, we don't have that disposable income that Bernie's trying to get a piece of through his marketing. However, he's forgetting that if he doesn't engage the Forgotten Generation now, they will likely never have any interest in it. That interview mentioned how tobacco companies courted young folks to make sure they were hooked from a young age - well, I seem to recall alcopops being marketed to young legal drinkers too, and they did rather well for themselves. The truth is, fandom starts young. Of course, old fart that he is, he's quite happy to not invest in a generation that has no direct connection to him. But that's a political rant I have no interest in getting into.

 

[The Artist.....]

F1Yorkshire

Had I not started watching F1 at the age of 6. I would not now be an F1 fan. Football gets people in from a young age, and maintains their interest. F1 is now trying to destroy its roots.

 

[The Artist.....]

(Up until recently, I had believed that Bernie Ecclestone had done a lot of good for F1 - and I believe up until about 1994/5 that was true... However, since then, he courted manufacturers, which almost destroyed the sport, he has moved live coverage to behind a paywall, and is trying to monetize everything. Sometimes, you need to make sure that some things are available for free!)

 

[The Artist.....]

How much does F1 need sponsors, versus broadcasting rights or race fees?

It's not life and death for us. The income comes from promoters that run races, and have to be there to provide a service for the show or the television. Sponsors are there and, of course, if all the sponsors stopped it would hurt us financially but it would cause as much damage as it would for a race team because we could cut our costs

But Bernie, you stupid man, without the teams, there is no show, and no television/promoter money.

 

[Greenlantern101]

The Artist..... you forgot to add his unstoppable quest to take F1 to increasingly obscure venues.

He may of built the sport but now he looks set to destroying it as well.
I really wish the old git would piss off.

 

[Road of Bones]

I think he's trying to devalue it to the point where he can buy it back off CVC for a nominal fee

 

[F1Yorkshire]

http://sniffpetrol.com/2014/11/14/ecclestone-f1-doesnt-need-cars/#.VGX5U_msU8R

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Fake Charlie Whiting ‏@charlie_whiting 3 minutes ago
Bernie Ecclestone is the greatest troll of all time. And he’s never set foot on the Internet. Amazing. #F1

 

[Titch]

Bernie Ecclestone is a self seeking, opportunistic money grabber.

 

[The Artist.....]

Titch

I think the exact phrase you're grasping for is:

Bernie is a ****ing ****-faced ****tard.

I agree

 

[Greenlantern101]

Can we start a petition to CVC asking them to fire him?

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I think CVC are part of the problem! I doubt they're going to relinquish the free money they're making too easily.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Yeah, they are hardly likely to fire their most important ring mouth piece

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Nicked from Lotus's Twitter feed:

 

[teabagyokel]

"You damn kids get off my property."

- B. Ecclestone, November 2014

 

[Mephistopheles]

Who would win in a battle of wills, Bernie Ecclestone or Chuck Norris?