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.

 

[mjo]

Bernie's very hard to interview, isn't he?

 

[Vortex]

Just wish he didn’t (have to?) charge the circuits so damn much to host the GP’s, that’s why the ticket prices are so damn high and we’re losing all the old classics for dull well funded ones.

 

[mjo]

Just wish he didn’t (have to?) charge the circuits so damn much to host the GP’s, that’s why the ticket prices are so damn high and we’re losing all the old classics for dull well funded ones.

Totally agree with you. That is why Albert Park and Soa are in danger, and France lost its GP. Even a GA ticket at Silverstone on raceday is expensive - and the programmes are £13! In the end, money talks, unfortunately. But ultimately, F1 is a business and the aim of every business is to generate a profit - whether it is generated by selling out to Skyor introducing Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Valencia to the calendar.

 

[FB]

Don't know if many of you have looked at the BBC Gossip Column today but there's a fantastic photo of Bernie.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9629140.stm

 

[Slyboogy]

Meaning that he is "two-faced"?

I haven't read the article by the way, just looking at that picture I came to that conclusion

 

[siffert_fan]

I am amazed. I half suspected Bernie would not be able to cast a reflection. After all, he has been sucking all of my enjoyment out of F1 for years.

 

[mjo]

Does he get a free bus pass?

 

[cider_and_toast]

According to reports in some German newspapers today, it looks as if Bernie is going to be charged with offering a bribe to a civil servant in relation to the corruption trial of Gerhard Gribkowsky. The public prosecutor has been taking statements from Gribkowsky in prison and according to the reports has substantial statements against Ecclestone. So could it all be over for Bernie this time?

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

I believe Bernie is the accredited inventor of teflon... Gribkowsky is a self confessed criminal... I think we will be seeing the old white haired fox for a few more seasons yet (just maybe not at one of the European rounds... )

 

[Speshal]

The saga rumbles on but it appears that the bank in question has asked Bernie for £300 million - to which he told them to sod off.

Back page of the Times today reads "B.E remained defiant last night as it was revealed that the search for his replacement at the head of Formula One has started.........Board members asked one of the world's biggest headhunting companies to draw up a list of potential replacements".

Is his time finally up? I'll bet you he fights tooth and nail to stay, but that may prove difficult if he's getting prosecuted in Germany

 

[gethinceri]

Yeah, those headhunters phoned me but I told them to fuck off, i can't work with idiots like he does.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Ecclestone reckons he'll be in F1 for at least 3 more years before he retires:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20104845

 

[mjo]

He'll never retire.

 

[Quintessentially]

Not if Tamara keeps getting boob jobs.

 

[Quintessentially]

 

[Bill Boddy]

In the Business section of The Observer this week there is a piece "King pf retail may find a new Formula". Sainsbury's boss Justin King pulled them out of the doldrums when he arrived in 2004. It is rumoured that next year he will announce his departure in 2014 on completing his ten year stint. He will be looking for pastures new.

"Friends have even started telling trade papers that he fancies being the new Bernie Ecclestone ...."

I would have thought it unlikely that he would be saying anything about such a move without some reasonable expectation of getting the job. Unless he has talked with BE and believed that what he heard was the full truth.

PS I couldn't find a link to this before writing it but just had one more search and found http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/nov/11/starbucks-man-faces-a-roasting-business-agenda

 

[The Pits]

"Friends have even started telling trade papers that he fancies being the new Bernie Ecclestone ...."

I would have thought it unlikely that he would be saying anything about such a move without some reasonable expectation of getting the job. Unless he has talked with BE and believed that what he heard was the full truth.

I have mentioned this in the office this morning, and lo there was much chortling.

To be honest, I would fancy being the next Bernie Ecclestone, and I think many people would, but I think the Justin King story may be a little wide of the mark, although his son is a racing driver at the mo!

 

[Brogan]

Interesting comment from Ecclestone regarding Schumacher.

Well, we wouldn’t and we couldn’t keep him in another role because he is too close to Mercedes. It would have been easier when he was still close to Ferrari, I guess.

So he can't work in F1 because he is too close to Mercedes yet there would have been no such issue if he was still close to Ferrari? The more things change, the more they stay the same.

http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2012/12/14153.html

 

[Mephistopheles]

He does talk some bollocks that man, If the principle of what he is saying ran true in F1 how the fuck did DC get a job commentating?

 

[siffert_fan]

The only good thing I can say about Bernie is that he did have the good taste to buy a Mercedes W125! I am certain that he never had the balls to drive it, though.