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.

 

[cider_and_toast]

The statement about track limits and the lack of penalty for exceeding them is amusing on account of the fact that gravel traps were taken away partly to stop those perfectly good cars getting stuck when they should be hauling those thousands of pounds of sponsorship logos around the track.

 

[Titch]

Instead of concentrating on drivers being penalised with gravel traps, walls and accidents, why not concentrate more on making cars more competative, and tracks better able to accommodate wheel to wheel racing.

 

[siffert_fan]

But how do you make cars more competitive? Do you add weight to each winning car with each win? I don't know how else you could do it, and that seems like penalizing success, and I am not sure that that is what you really want to do.

 

[vintly]

Standardise some of the key components perhaps? And if the prize money was distributed more evenly then teams would be more competitive anyway.

 

[siffert_fan]

Another possibility would be a variation of Australian Pursuit racing.
Beginning at, say, 25% of the season, there is no longer qualifying, except among drivers with the same number of points. The grid is the inverse of the championship standings: i.e., the leader starts last, second starts next-to-last etc. That arrangement would definitely increase the number of overtakes in every race.

 

[RasputinLives]

All of these things have been attempted but the system is set up so that the big manufacturers get to dictate the rules and, despite what they tell you on TV, they Don't want it to be more competitive. Turkeys do not vote for Xmas. Bernie or the FIA could try and force it but if they do they'll lose one of the big names and therefore a big chuck of cash and a publicity.

Max Mosley tried to do it once. He wasn't around for long. The teams have far too much power and the FIA is toothless. It's very easy to blame Bernie for everything. I blame him for taking F1 from it's classic venues, putting it apart from the fans, and taking it away from free TV for the money.

I can't blame him for the lack of competition. I'm afraid that comes from elsewhere.

 

[siffert_fan]

Rasputin,

I have to agree.

I started following F1 in the Coventry-Climax and then the Cosworth eras (yes, I am a dinosaur), which is why I find the current situation so boring. Those eras were very conducive to the rise of new teams, which had a very good chance of being competitive, if they were innovative enough and if their drivers were good enough (driving talent was a HUGE factor back then).

Thus such teams as McLaren, Williams, Brabham, Lotus etc came to be. Plus private teams such as Hesketh and Walter Wolf were able to introduce drivers that nobody else was willing to take a chance on. Hunt would have never made it into F1, given his playboy reputation, if Hesketh hadn't been willing to take a chance on him. That could never happen now, and F1 is the poorer for it.

 

[teabagyokel]

People will recall Alonso going round Schumacher at 130r, Kamui K at Japan (amongst others) Alonso and Vettel at Iola, JB at Brazil in 09 and Lewis at Germany 08.

None of those happened at corners with barrier walls hugging the outside of the circuit.

 

[Andyoak]

I don't want to sound like a broken record but...
Set the regs so the cars can get close enough for wheel to wheel racing.
It's what the sport is about.
It's where the skill lies.
It's where the risk is.

If you want excitement you have to have close racing.

 

[The Pits]

None of those happened at corners with barrier walls hugging the outside of the circuit.

No, they didn't.

Alonso vs Schumacher occurred at one of the fastest corners of the season, and the run off area is not huge, JB was going shit or bust, and Kamui was just Kamui.

My point I guess was not that the walls make a difference, more that with more risk rather than more danger things would be more compelling.

Lewis is a great example of that premise. he will pull off overtakes that others would not attempt (Max is similar) some of these make you take a sharp intake wondering if he will make it, knowing that if he doesn't, there will be broken cars/gravel traps etc. with DRS and huge run off, the overtakes that we see do not fall in to the same category. I would personally rather see far fewer overtakes of greater significance than many of the ones that we do see.

Whilst not arguing a point FOR dwarf walls (eh!) around a circuit, raising the stakes might not be a bad thing, as long as it can be done without compromising safety.

 

[Andyoak]

The key with all of the above is that you had two drivers on the ragged edge taking a chance with closely matched cars.

 

[The Pits]

Indeed, and they do not really need to now, due to things like DRS etc.

 

[FB]

I know there was a need to control costs but no team can now catch up with whoever with however takes the lead in a new formula as there is limited and controlled development and testing. Next year we might well see Manor come up with the best aero/engine combo and wipe the floor with the entire field as no one is able to make significant changes to their cars.

Remember when teams used to introduce a "B" or "C" spec car half way through a season or even a whole new machine? No, thought you didn't.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Remember still when teams could make a competitive chassis last more than one season?

 

[FB]

How many versions of the Lotus 72 were their? I recall there being an "F" spec, and the McLaren M23 won three World Titles in 5 years.

 

[Incubus]

Standardise some of the key components perhaps? .

--------------------------------------

That' s already the case for much of the onboard software components. Doesn't stop some teams from using them more efficiently than others.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Looks like Bernies successor is lined up

Brawn interested in Formula 1 return

 

[Andyoak]

In a way I see where he is coming from with his comments about methodical and chaotic meeting: That was basically Max and Bernie... What has been missing these past few years is the brake Max provided: JT doesn't provide it or, worse, isn't interested.

 

[Bill Boddy]

In general I agree with what Ross Braun says but where he says "chaotic" I would say "knee-jerk".; however with Mr Ecclestone I could say "it depends who he is talking to".

 

[Bill Boddy]

Looks like Bernies successor is lined up

Brawn interested in Formula 1 return

And now....

Brawn signs deal to replace Ecclestone? > F1 News > Grandprix.com