How does Bernie keep control of F1
Discussion
Why does Bernie Ecclestone have a monopoly and The FIA, FOM, FOCA have exclusivity to hold and run F1 races and the World driver’s championship?
Ignoring planning rules, if I had limitless wealth what would stop me building tracks and holding races anywhere I wanted?
For instance is there some law that says in the UK the MSA have to sanction a race and Bernie’s club have to run it?
Or as I suspect the Concorde agreement is a group of good ol boys having everything sown up and nobody has ever been brave or rich enough to challenge them properly, the ones that have challenged them have never seen it all the way to fruition.
Ignoring planning rules, if I had limitless wealth what would stop me building tracks and holding races anywhere I wanted?
For instance is there some law that says in the UK the MSA have to sanction a race and Bernie’s club have to run it?
Or as I suspect the Concorde agreement is a group of good ol boys having everything sown up and nobody has ever been brave or rich enough to challenge them properly, the ones that have challenged them have never seen it all the way to fruition.
Modern F1 is his and Max's baby. They created it.
In fact it nearly went bust and Bernie rescued it. He offered all the teams a share in the profit for a share in the risks and they all refused. So now they all work for him.
Bernie and Max have done a fantastic job keeping the show going through good times and bad, they have built it from being a small backwater sport like women's hockey to the amazing global spectacle we have today.
Don't believe the knockers on this forum, they have axes to grind.
In fact it nearly went bust and Bernie rescued it. He offered all the teams a share in the profit for a share in the risks and they all refused. So now they all work for him.
Bernie and Max have done a fantastic job keeping the show going through good times and bad, they have built it from being a small backwater sport like women's hockey to the amazing global spectacle we have today.
Don't believe the knockers on this forum, they have axes to grind.
The problem is, that global spectacle is the laughing stock of the motorsport world. No other series has so much emphasis outside of the racing. KERS, budget caps, tyre options, singe make engine, Silverstone, Donnington, Canada .... etc etc. I love F1 - the engineering alone is brilliant - however there seems to be an Eastenders style farcical storyline between each race and season while we wait for the FIA or Bernie to spew some more bulls
t that detracts from the sport.
I think anyone with an ounce of marketing sense could have put F1 up there, what Bernie and Max have done has caused most people to lose respect for it. All I have for them is contempt.
t that detracts from the sport.I think anyone with an ounce of marketing sense could have put F1 up there, what Bernie and Max have done has caused most people to lose respect for it. All I have for them is contempt.
Duke of Rothesay said:
Modern F1 is his and Max's baby. They created it.
In fact it nearly went bust and Bernie rescued it. He offered all the teams a share in the profit for a share in the risks and they all refused. So now they all work for him.
Bernie and Max have done a fantastic job keeping the show going through good times and bad, they have built it from being a small backwater sport like women's hockey to the amazing global spectacle we have today.
Don't believe the knockers on this forum, they have axes to grind.
Really?In fact it nearly went bust and Bernie rescued it. He offered all the teams a share in the profit for a share in the risks and they all refused. So now they all work for him.
Bernie and Max have done a fantastic job keeping the show going through good times and bad, they have built it from being a small backwater sport like women's hockey to the amazing global spectacle we have today.
Don't believe the knockers on this forum, they have axes to grind.
And what would those axes be?
I've read a Bernie biog - Bernie's Game I think - and it is a fasciniating insight into how he has built up and controlled F1 over the years, clearly it wouldn't be he global sport it is today without him, but you also do have to question whether it is healthy for any sport to have someone who will be 80 next year in such a dominant position.
And what on earth will happen in F1 when Bernie does finally pop his clogs or retire? Is there any succession planning, or will the whole thing become a shambolic mess?
And what on earth will happen in F1 when Bernie does finally pop his clogs or retire? Is there any succession planning, or will the whole thing become a shambolic mess?
Duke of Rothesay said:
Modern F1 is his and Max's baby. They created it.
In fact it nearly went bust and Bernie rescued it. He offered all the teams a share in the profit for a share in the risks and they all refused. So now they all work for him.
Bernie and Max have done a fantastic job keeping the show going through good times and bad, they have built it from being a small backwater sport like women's hockey to the amazing global spectacle we have today.
Don't believe the knockers on this forum, they have axes to grind.
Hmm, a backwater sport? Moss was the most popular British sportsman in his time and when seriously injured many firms broadcast news items to update their staff. Jackie Stewart is, all these years after he hung up his gloves, still more popular and well known in this country that any woman hockey player. (The name Rachael Hey-Hoy Sprint keeps going through my mind. Does she play hockey?)In fact it nearly went bust and Bernie rescued it. He offered all the teams a share in the profit for a share in the risks and they all refused. So now they all work for him.
Bernie and Max have done a fantastic job keeping the show going through good times and bad, they have built it from being a small backwater sport like women's hockey to the amazing global spectacle we have today.
Don't believe the knockers on this forum, they have axes to grind.
In the 80s, pre Max and Bernie control, F1 was still the main sport behind football in this country, and in many others. Mansell, Prost, Lauda, Senna and others were all 'household names' to quote Shakespeare in this country. So what Max and Bernie did was to walk into one of the most successful sports in the world and what? Make an awful lot of money for themselves? That, for me, is about it.
AlexRWD said:
I've read a Bernie biog - Bernie's Game I think - and it is a fasciniating insight into how he has built up and controlled F1 over the years, clearly it wouldn't be he global sport it is today without him, but you also do have to question whether it is healthy for any sport to have someone who will be 80 next year in such a dominant position.
And what on earth will happen in F1 when Bernie does finally pop his clogs or retire? Is there any succession planning, or will the whole thing become a shambolic mess?
The whole thing is a shambolic mess now, at least compared to how it used to be some years ago. Successions palnning? Let's not replace either. The sport managed well enough without them.And what on earth will happen in F1 when Bernie does finally pop his clogs or retire? Is there any succession planning, or will the whole thing become a shambolic mess?
Duke of Rothesay said:
they have built it from being a small backwater sport like women's hockey
When was it a backwater sport? At Bahrain for instance, if it wasn't for tv the gp would have been seen by about the sort of crowd a womans hockey game might fetch, which is a direct contrast to what went on 40-50 years ago.In fact, motorsport other than F1 hardly raises any audiences of any sort at all nowadays.
"How does Bernie keep control of F1"
Bernie is in control?!
Where DoR is right (what I think he meant), is that F1 was seriously messed up in the early 80's. Things - technology, competition, politics had been building for a while and it was inevitable. There were many disputes and arguments and several races involved team or driver protests over a variety of unresolved/unresolvable issues, and a much reduced field as a result.
Max and Bernie were definitely F1's savior at the time.
However, saviors are welcome only for a short time. People are fickle. They forget how things were. Saviors eventually get crucified. Good job everyone is mortal, hey? Bernie is fast approaching senile, no doubt. Some of his later ideas have been plain insane. Max is no spring chicken either.
Or to put it another way, maybe MM and BE should've abandoned their artwork a bit sooner?
JYS is the only man in F1 circles who has the experience and intelligence to run it properly, IMO.
Bernie is in control?!
Where DoR is right (what I think he meant), is that F1 was seriously messed up in the early 80's. Things - technology, competition, politics had been building for a while and it was inevitable. There were many disputes and arguments and several races involved team or driver protests over a variety of unresolved/unresolvable issues, and a much reduced field as a result.
Max and Bernie were definitely F1's savior at the time.
However, saviors are welcome only for a short time. People are fickle. They forget how things were. Saviors eventually get crucified. Good job everyone is mortal, hey?
Bernie is fast approaching senile, no doubt. Some of his later ideas have been plain insane. Max is no spring chicken either.Or to put it another way, maybe MM and BE should've abandoned their artwork a bit sooner?
JYS is the only man in F1 circles who has the experience and intelligence to run it properly, IMO.
Edited by mattikake on Wednesday 29th April 02:29
mattikake said:
"How does Bernie keep control of F1"
Bernie is in control?!
Where DoR is right (what I think he meant), is that F1 was seriously messed up in the early 80's. Things - technology, competition, politics had been building for a while and it was inevitable. There were many disputes and arguments and several races involved team or driver protests over a variety of unresolved/unresolvable issues, and a much reduced field as a result.
Max and Bernie were definitely F1's savior at the time.
I wasn't that interested in the politics of F1 in those days - I vastly underestimated its influence but from my recollection, Bernie was one of the causes of all the trouble rather than the solution.Bernie is in control?!
Where DoR is right (what I think he meant), is that F1 was seriously messed up in the early 80's. Things - technology, competition, politics had been building for a while and it was inevitable. There were many disputes and arguments and several races involved team or driver protests over a variety of unresolved/unresolvable issues, and a much reduced field as a result.
Max and Bernie were definitely F1's savior at the time.
I was a big fan of Brabham - no pun intended - but even so I felt he went too far with the disruptive side of things. There are many similar aspects to the situation then and now but the main difference is that FOTA would appear, at this stage, to speak for all. Balestra's confidence when he went into the election for president was probably greater than mossy's is at present but he didn't reckon on betrayal by his closest advisor. A lesson for us all there, but especially one bloke.
Derek Smith said:
mattikake said:
"How does Bernie keep control of F1"
Bernie is in control?!
Where DoR is right (what I think he meant), is that F1 was seriously messed up in the early 80's. Things - technology, competition, politics had been building for a while and it was inevitable. There were many disputes and arguments and several races involved team or driver protests over a variety of unresolved/unresolvable issues, and a much reduced field as a result.
Max and Bernie were definitely F1's savior at the time.
I wasn't that interested in the politics of F1 in those days - I vastly underestimated its influence but from my recollection, Bernie was one of the causes of all the trouble rather than the solution.Bernie is in control?!
Where DoR is right (what I think he meant), is that F1 was seriously messed up in the early 80's. Things - technology, competition, politics had been building for a while and it was inevitable. There were many disputes and arguments and several races involved team or driver protests over a variety of unresolved/unresolvable issues, and a much reduced field as a result.
Max and Bernie were definitely F1's savior at the time.
I was a big fan of Brabham - no pun intended - but even so I felt he went too far with the disruptive side of things. There are many similar aspects to the situation then and now but the main difference is that FOTA would appear, at this stage, to speak for all. Balestra's confidence when he went into the election for president was probably greater than mossy's is at present but he didn't reckon on betrayal by his closest advisor. A lesson for us all there, but especially one bloke.
So my take was that BE and Max were the ring leaders in a revolution which, although has been controversial and greedy in recent years, has brought stability to F1 with the FIA and the concord agreement for around 20 years beforehand. FOM is just an offshoot. There IS a place in the world for dictators.
Or is that not right?
Oh yeah, forgot I have a vid of the pinacle of all the wranglings finally getting out of control: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-DdMRaTKNQ
mattikake said:
Derek Smith said:
mattikake said:
"How does Bernie keep control of F1"
Bernie is in control?!
Where DoR is right (what I think he meant), is that F1 was seriously messed up in the early 80's. Things - technology, competition, politics had been building for a while and it was inevitable. There were many disputes and arguments and several races involved team or driver protests over a variety of unresolved/unresolvable issues, and a much reduced field as a result.
Max and Bernie were definitely F1's savior at the time.
I wasn't that interested in the politics of F1 in those days - I vastly underestimated its influence but from my recollection, Bernie was one of the causes of all the trouble rather than the solution.Bernie is in control?!
Where DoR is right (what I think he meant), is that F1 was seriously messed up in the early 80's. Things - technology, competition, politics had been building for a while and it was inevitable. There were many disputes and arguments and several races involved team or driver protests over a variety of unresolved/unresolvable issues, and a much reduced field as a result.
Max and Bernie were definitely F1's savior at the time.
I was a big fan of Brabham - no pun intended - but even so I felt he went too far with the disruptive side of things. There are many similar aspects to the situation then and now but the main difference is that FOTA would appear, at this stage, to speak for all. Balestra's confidence when he went into the election for president was probably greater than mossy's is at present but he didn't reckon on betrayal by his closest advisor. A lesson for us all there, but especially one bloke.
So my take was that BE and Max were the ring leaders in a revolution which, although has been controversial and greedy in recent years, has brought stability to F1 with the FIA and the concord agreement for around 20 years beforehand. FOM is just an offshoot. There IS a place in the world for dictators.
Or is that not right?
As to JYS, well actually he would appear to be perfectly qualified, with all aspects of F1, including the business side, and even safety, of course. Trouble MM, particularly, clearly hates JYS and I'd imagine he'd be the last person they would want to see in charge. Into the vacuum will come initially anonymous crony lawyer/accountant types that will get that will get the gigs for both MM and BE. And in Bernie's case, that's no time soon, illness aside.
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