Bernie Ecclestone sinks to new low....

[williamp]

robinessex said:

The Moose said:

Eric Mc said:

We'll have to agree to differ.

You obviously have powers of deduction beyond mere mortals in that you can see alternative futures clearly.

I would argue that Bernie's machinations with the FIA have helped other forms of motor sport decline too - so I'll blame him for that as well.

I genuinely think that the years 1997 to the present day were the years where F1 began to lose its way big time - and Bernie was firmly at the helm for most of those years..

In what way has F1 lost it's way in the last 20 years? What would you rather it had become?

The wealth created by F1 should've filtered down to the lower ranks. Not get stuffed in someones pocket

genuine question: why? It hasnt happened in football, where the biggest clubs have mega money. I cant think of any sport where big money at the top get shared down to the lower ranks.

[Eric Mc]

It's compulsory in some top level American sport.

[The Moose]

williamp said:

robinessex said:

The Moose said:

Eric Mc said:

We'll have to agree to differ.

You obviously have powers of deduction beyond mere mortals in that you can see alternative futures clearly.

I would argue that Bernie's machinations with the FIA have helped other forms of motor sport decline too - so I'll blame him for that as well.

I genuinely think that the years 1997 to the present day were the years where F1 began to lose its way big time - and Bernie was firmly at the helm for most of those years..

In what way has F1 lost it's way in the last 20 years? What would you rather it had become?

The wealth created by F1 should've filtered down to the lower ranks. Not get stuffed in someones pocket

genuine question: why? It hasnt happened in football, where the biggest clubs have mega money. I cant think of any sport where big money at the top get shared down to the lower ranks.

F1 distributes nearly a billion dollars each year to the teams.

This is before any of their sponsorship deals that the teams individually make.

The reality is that the teams have something to spend their money on Bernie/CVC "just" have to promote and do the deals.

[London424]

Eric Mc said:

It's compulsory in some top level American sport.

Is it? I can't think of any examples and I'm pretty up to speed on US sports.

They do have revenue sharing agreements, but they only share it amongst themselves, not down to the lower levels.

[Eric Mc]

That's a start.

Even if it is a restricted form of sharing - it is sharing. And, as in all competition, EVERYBODY is at a different level. After all, that is what sport is all about. If it wasn't, there wouldn't be winners or losers.

F1 for too long was all about winner take all - and by "winner" I don't necessarily mean a team that has actually won in the sport - but won in the negotiations with Bernie - which may only be loosely based on the team's current levels of success.

Even Premier League football teams have commitments beyond just paying their players massive salaries such as community schemes, football academies etc.

Does F1 do ANYTHING of that nature?

[London424]

F1 already does that though.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/123649

Col 1 in the table is the equal split that all get. Col 2 is a performance award. It's the other nonsense things that some teams get that make it unequal in that respect.

[KevinCamaroSS]

London424 said:

F1 already does that though.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/123649

Col 1 in the table is the equal split that all get. Col 2 is a performance award. It's the other nonsense things that some teams get that make it unequal in that respect.

Indeed it is. The 3 columns CCB, LST and Other should all be removed and the funds applied to the first two columns.

[entropy]

robinessex said:

The Moose said:

Eric Mc said:

We'll have to agree to differ.

You obviously have powers of deduction beyond mere mortals in that you can see alternative futures clearly.

I would argue that Bernie's machinations with the FIA have helped other forms of motor sport decline too - so I'll blame him for that as well.

I genuinely think that the years 1997 to the present day were the years where F1 began to lose its way big time - and Bernie was firmly at the helm for most of those years..

In what way has F1 lost it's way in the last 20 years? What would you rather it had become?

The wealth created by F1 should've filtered down to the lower ranks. Not get stuffed in someones pocket

It bears repeating but the problems suffering today comes from Max Mosley giving Bernie 100 years commercial rights ownership and then selling off his shares to private equity groups - namely CVC - who only care about the bottom line.

[coppice]

No , no be fair; I have it on strong authority that Ecclestone paid £1.50 to his then mate Max - payable in 5p pieces , if you get my drift.