Yes. Whilst Red Bull are relative 'bit-players' at this level, Ferrari are very much not! Ultimately they call the shots. Not only have they been allowed to since the year dot but they have actively been encouraged to during the reign of Bernie and Max. And I don't trust Lucifer di Montezemolo much more than the unspeakable Filthio Briatore. In my opinion, Pay-to-View F1 would be a bad move for the long-term future of this sport which we all love.
Yer cricket and Rugby I've read have suffered because of PPV with taking the short term money gain which has ruined their sport in the long run. F1 is just getting bigger and bigger as a franchise and I don't need it going to the stone age in 10-20 years time because some teams wanted to make a quick buck.
Turdoch and Filthio Briatore .... just brilliant. I'm surprised that Silvio Bungasconi doesn't get involved with Italian F1 - or does he?
In reality, I guess it is inevitable that CVC will eventually sell the rights to F1, simply to repay the debt owed to the banks, to whom and when remains to be seen. Bernie is nearing the end of his tenure in control of CVC so in the not too distant future things are going to change, I dont think Bernie now has total control and other influences within CVC are becoming evident contrary to Bernies alleged thinking. If we want to influence the outcome of the future owners we need to protest our views bigtime, after all no-one will want to buy a non viable business especially if the customers are going to switch off. It is obvious that if a senior FIA official is financially and blood connected to the richest man in the world, who is media orientated, then the writing is on the wall. Get ready for a fight lads.
Idd this isn't a joke lads if this even gets past the FIA let alone the teams we will have to protest REALLY! fking big time with no half measures and false threats. They go PPV we bankrupt them and wait for a new F1 series to pop up until that time.
Silver: Yes mate, this could be serious, this could easily get through the FIA red tape, simply through cash and family connections, we should consider action, I dont know how, or what we need to do but it needs discussion. What do you guys think, personally I think plans are already afoot.
I think the best assurance of this deal even getting close of going through is... 1:The FIA have the right to veto it. 2:Concorde was last written for free-view not PPV, most teams want free-view because of sponsors. 3:How many British teams are enjoying the reputation and coverage they get off the BBC. 4:They know we'll stop watching if they go PPV, casuals won't even give a second glance at paying out money. 5:This is F1 not football, they have cars to sell off on worldwide reputation. 6:Max Mosley who got caught out by none other than News Of The World wont let this go down without a fight.
OK - so what's gonna change anytime soon? Apologies to anybody upset - but it has to be said. What if Bernie drops dead? Who does what?
I'm not sure if this is part of the 'Noooooo!!' story or if it deserves its own thread but, following on from Ecclestone spending the weekend of the Chinese GP in Germany to provide evidence about the $50m paid to the banker who sold his shares in F1 to CVC, Ecclestone now claims that the payment was the result of blackmail with the banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky, threatening to reveal compromising details about Ecclestone's business dealings if Ecclestone didn't pay up. For some reason it's taken until now for Ecclestone to bring this up. Is this a concerted move by Rupert Murdoch to get Ecclestone out of the way so he can manipulate a deal with CVC? Is the Rupert Murdoch connection a red herring? WTF is going on?
At the time with starting this post I just exploded with the f1=sky direction of the article. At the time it was more about getting it out in the open rather than just looking at it fully, which was my fault.
