Bernie is banging on, again, about customer cars for £15million. He goes on to say (espnf1.com) 'But to all intents and purposes, nobody would ever know. The public would never know. It would not alter the way they see the races. It wouldn't change the spectacle.' I knew he wasn't fond of the fans but to say 'the public would never know' !!!! I am not the most knowledgeable fan by any stretch of the imagination but I do love to find out the engineering aspects of the sport.
I have no objection to the customer car rule, provided the team who is running it has freedom to develop it themselves if they choose, especially if they are running a year old car.
I would prefer a 3rd party developer like dellara or lola who are commissioned by the FIA to build a standard car rather than another team because the team that builds it would have some kind of power and a competitive advantage from supporting it. However what I dont mind though is some teams having a B team status though like STR is to Red Bull. Ferrari, mclaren and Mercedes should all be doing the same. This helps young blood into the sport. But I wouldnt like these teams to cancel out the small privateer teams. These teams should be given some more financial support. Its a very tricky situation that needs to be discussed and thought about delicatly. Not some mad man at the top making rash decisions thinking fans of the sport wouldnt notice. You know has anybody ever read a guide to F1 for newbies? It actually gives a brief into the technology of the sport (you know... what the sport is based on!) so to say a fair-weather fan or newbie wouldnt even know if a car was a customer car is criminally insane!! I mean even the commentators would point that out to them!!!
The should jsut allow the big teams to sell parts to the little teams. This allows the big boys to make money and the little ones to get good parts on the cheap. An open market will keep prices low and will stop them trying to offload duff parts.
Another great Bernie quote: "I will try to intervene and convince the FIA," said Ecclestone. "And if certain people complain, let them complain. I guarantee that we will win. After 50 years of work, I will not allow Formula One to be destroyed out of pure selfishness." http://autoweek.com/article/formula...re-sitting-and-waiting-formula-one-disappear?
I can't believe this thread is nearly three years old, and we're still no closer to the desired outcome.
From this article... http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/35889156 "At least it is better to think before you wish"? What?? As for the last paragraph... Such a contrast with the GPDA letter.
The headline... "Bernie Ecclestone: Women drivers in F1 would not be taken seriously" Ironically, I don't think many in F1 take Bernie seriously any more. The problem is, it doesn't matter whether he's taken seriously. He's powerful and he's cynical and, although he's clearly losing it nowadays, his employer indulges him. So everyone else has to put up with him.
Benson can't even write an article about Bernie going senile without shoehorning Hamilton in there somewhere... This is Bernie's usual game of saying something moronic loudly enough to generate headlines. It distracts from the reports that manufacturers are planning a coup, and that Pirelli are demanding help with testing or will quit the sport.
Bit of a non-story really. The Popes's still catholic, the sky is still blue and Bernie Ecclestone is still a ****.
I think he'll get more **** for saying what he has than he did for bribery and corruption, that's a lot of consumers he's just insulted.