Ecclestone: Hamilton is F1's greatest champion

Ecclestone: Hamilton is F1's greatest champion

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slimzimma

Original Poster:

143 posts

164 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formul...

Aside from being a Hamilton fan I have to agree with Bernie that Hamilton is doing a great job marketing both himself and F1.

Spiritual_Beggar

4,833 posts

193 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Different times. We live in a media dominated world, so a lot easier to market yourself and the sport now than it was in the past. But if I was to choose who championed the sport and grabbed the most attention for F1...its pretty hard to look past;

Ayrton Senna

Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Friday 27th March 2015
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But grabbing attention for the right reasons?

Lewis at least is a clean racer, he won't drive anyone off and he doesn't cheat or reverse onto the track during quali, or slam it into the wall on purpose etc..


Mermaid

21,492 posts

170 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Outside Bernie's helmship, far more worthy champions, so this is not champions but about Bernie & £££££'s.

Derek Smith

45,512 posts

247 months

Friday 27th March 2015
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Mermaid said:
Outside Bernie's helmship, far more worthy champions, so this is not champions but about Bernie & £££££'s.
Move along now. This is nothing to do with trying to stop the fall in viewing figures.

I saw Clark and reckon that he's the best driver I've ever seen. I've had lots of arguments about who is best and I've got facts, figures and circumstances which support my contention. Despite this, I've got to say that it is an impossible statement. The real reason I liked Clark is because he got me interested in GP racing.

Ecclestone says something rather silly. A slow news day.

That said, LH put in a blinder today, getting fastest with just a few laps under his belt.


anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
But grabbing attention for the right reasons?

Lewis at least is a clean racer, he won't drive anyone off and he doesn't cheat or reverse onto the track during quali, or slam it into the wall on purpose etc..
Correct me if I'm wrong but it's Lewis who has 'cheat' on his CV, officially, not Nico?

Not that it matters to me, no more than the opinion of a senile octogenarian.


Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Friday 27th March 2015
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Doesn't he say this about every champion ?


Gillett66

98 posts

142 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
REALIST123 said:
Jasandjules said:
But grabbing attention for the right reasons?

Lewis at least is a clean racer, he won't drive anyone off and he doesn't cheat or reverse onto the track during quali, or slam it into the wall on purpose etc..
Correct me if I'm wrong but it's Lewis who has 'cheat' on his CV, officially, not Nico?

Not that it matters to me, no more than the opinion of a senile octogenarian.
Where did Lewis 'cheat' and why do you suppose Bernie is senile?

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
hehe you have to love the Bernie hate.

Far from senile I think he's as sharp as ever, underestimate him at your peril.


entropy

5,403 posts

202 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
But grabbing attention for the right reasons?
Whether you agree with him or not he always spoke from the heart.

Clark - he wasn't a showman. Public speaking petrified him though he did become more comfortable with it. A good he existed in the 60s and just look at the Mickey taking/slagged off with the likes of Kimi and Casey Stoner who aren't keen or too comfortable with PR.

Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Gillett66 said:
Where did Lewis 'cheat' and why do you suppose Bernie is senile?
I am assuming he is referring the McLaren situation.

However, if anyone thinks Nico wasn't cheating at Monaco last year, well, I would refer them to my learned Mr Brundle...

vonuber

17,868 posts

164 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Gillett66 said:
Where did Lewis 'cheat' and why do you suppose Bernie is senile?
I think he is referring to Hamilton lying to the stewards to gain an unfair advantage.

Derek Smith

45,512 posts

247 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Crafty_ said:
hehe you have to love the Bernie hate.

Far from senile I think he's as sharp as ever, underestimate him at your peril.
The problem is that the 'peril' you mention is the sport of F1.

He may be sharp, but as sharp as ever? If you look at how he handled things in the old days I've got to say that he's but a shadow of the old Ecclestone.


williamp

19,213 posts

272 months

Friday 27th March 2015
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Just wait until clarkson replaces Bernie. Then you'll see some change...!

Gillett66

98 posts

142 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Derek Smith said:
Crafty_ said:
hehe you have to love the Bernie hate.

Far from senile I think he's as sharp as ever, underestimate him at your peril.
The problem is that the 'peril' you mention is the sport of F1.

He may be sharp, but as sharp as ever? If you look at how he handled things in the old days I've got to say that he's but a shadow of the old Ecclestone.
Any examples to go with that sweeping statement?

Derek Smith

45,512 posts

247 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Gillett66 said:
Any examples to go with that sweeping statement?
It is not a sweeping statement, it is specific.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyQ_Jrxo-a4

He has also been through a number of court cases, something which the old Ecclestone would never have allowed.

CVC said they would float on the market, sell their shares and similar. However, the state of F1 would appear to have blocked that move.

Ecclestone is good for his age:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgrbdKQ3zzs

But in the old days of running the FIA he used to be just good.


Gillett66

98 posts

142 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
Derek Smith said:
Gillett66 said:
Any examples to go with that sweeping statement?
It is not a sweeping statement, it is specific.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyQ_Jrxo-a4

He has also been through a number of court cases, something which the old Ecclestone would never have allowed.

CVC said they would float on the market, sell their shares and similar. However, the state of F1 would appear to have blocked that move.

Ecclestone is good for his age:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgrbdKQ3zzs

But in the old days of running the FIA he used to be just good.
Seems like you're choosing to miss the point to back up your statement. The revolving door was a joke, anyone that's watched the entire clip can see that.

The notion that you can choose not to be taken to court is ridiculous.

Ever considered he doesn't want CVC selling?

sirtyro

1,824 posts

197 months

Saturday 28th March 2015
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I like Lewis as a racing driver, but I've recently debated unfollowing him from Twitter. Pictures of him posing with gold chains and shoes with no socks on and his shout outs to his rapper hommies doesn't really promote F1, more him testing the waters of a future music career. On track brilliant, off track Nicole ruined him.

Derek Smith

45,512 posts

247 months

Saturday 28th March 2015
quotequote all
Gillett66 said:
Seems like you're choosing to miss the point to back up your statement. The revolving door was a joke, anyone that's watched the entire clip can see that.

The notion that you can choose not to be taken to court is ridiculous.

Ever considered he doesn't want CVC selling?
Yeah, OK, Ecclestone has the influence he always had. He carefully engineered the court case, managing to get away scot free, as he always had in the past, by just having to pay a small fortune to the prosecutors.

If you believe the courts are there equally for the rich and powerful and the rest of us, then I'm sure it gives you a lot of comfort.

If he was trying to block the sale of the rights then he's going the right way about it by carefully managing the viewing figures and limiting the number of cars on the grid.

Compare the old Ecclestone to the current one with blinkers off.

Edited to add:

I was asked to write an article on Ecclestone, now some years ago, and I was unable to come to an informed decision ass to how much he owned of CVC, in its various guises. There seems to be little doubt that it was, at the time, in excess of 10% but the top figure is impossible to be precise about.

So at a valuation of £10bn (hard to justify a precise figure) Ecclestone's investment is around 1bn and he is unlikely to want to wreck that. One thing which seems consistent about Ecclestone, throughout his life, is that money is his main interest.



Edited by Derek Smith on Saturday 28th March 08:10

-Z-

5,979 posts

205 months

Saturday 28th March 2015
quotequote all
sirtyro said:
I like Lewis as a racing driver, but I've recently debated unfollowing him from Twitter. Pictures of him posing with gold chains and shoes with no socks on and his shout outs to his rapper hommies doesn't really promote F1, more him testing the waters of a future music career. On track brilliant, off track Nicole ruined him.
I honestly don't get the issue, the man is allowed to have friends no? He obviously isn't a country bumpkin like most posters on here (or Jenson).

Arguably he is far less of a Chav than James Hunt who is hero worshipped around here with no pointing out of his negative traits.....