Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is a virtuoso performer on an instrument known as “The Media”. He knows how to use the press perfectly to get what he wants. And when it comes to most of his comments, what he is really after is to have the chattering classes chattering. Talk sells tickets. When he described Danica Patrick as “a domestic appliance” a few years ago at Indianapolis, he got everyone talking about F1, which is no mean achievement in the United States. Being outrageous is not always a bad thing.
When he wants to be, Bernie can be ultimately charming. He will make a new boy on Fleet Street feel like he is special. If Bernie finds himself up against particularly troublesome individuals he charms them. He tickles their egos, plays up to their inflated feelings of self-importance and by the time they realise that they are eating out of his hand – like baby birds – they have lost all credibility and it is too late. They have destroyed themselves.
Experienced hacks like me have seen him in action for a long time and one can respect a real professional at work. We have a couple of weeks to go before the first GP of the year and so Mr E is talking to the Australian media about their favourite subject at this time of year: the future of the Australian GP. And he says, very clearly, that if Melbourne does not play ball, then it will be gone after the contract runs out in 2015. Negotiations for a new deal will not start for a while but Bernie knows that this point is really not that important. The papers need a story. If Australia might lose its F1 race, it is a national threat… and tomorrow it will be in every newspaper in the country.
And, of course, he wants different terms next time around because the time zones are not great and he cannot maximise TV viewers with a race at that hour. He wants it under lights. At night.
“We have other races ready to take the place of Australia – which we don’t want to happen,” he said. “But it would be wrong of me to have to report to our board, ‘Terribly sorry about this but we have to walk away from Wherever to retain Australia’.”
Brilliant.
In a few days expect Ron Walker, another brilliant media player (in the old sense of the word) to chime in with some kind of response. To keep the story rolling onwards.
My take exactly, Joe. There is nobody who more masterfully works the media to his benefit than Bernard Ecclestone.
Some deluded folks assume he’s crazy or daft, but nothing this man says on the record is accidental or without benefit to him or F1 in one way or another.
Joe,
Am I right in thinking that Bernie is also saying that no-one else can catch Red Bull this year, and that only Webber stands between Vettel and his next title? And if so, what’s the agenda there? Just that he’s talking to Australians?
Bernie is a law unto himself.
Can you anticipate the expected statement from Ron Walker? In the past it was often something along the lines of “more state support needed” and this year’s GP being maybe one of the last Aus GPs ever, if more support isn’t found etc., and what a commercial loss it would be for Melbourne.
Bernie has had years of practice and belive me he is very good at what he does, this is the very reason cvc retained his services. It is natural to bernie and no effort, i really cant think of a successor who can top him, can you? As for australia well time to move with the times im afraid, the highest tv viewings must be in europe, where else…..is this true joe?
You are spot on, Joe. Another thing to consider is how he uses stories to throw the media off the scent of the real story. With him, always look at his other hand; what he isn’t talking about. (Bambino Trust?)
An old trick from The Magic Circle…
I am sitting here laughing…five minutes after I read this, the Guardian published a piece entitled “Bernie Ecclestone Ready to Walk Away From Australian Grand Prix”. Played!
Andrew Westacott would prefer the race at night/twilight, as it’s a more convenient viewing time for the European and Asian markets. which makes it better from a branding and tourist point of view for Melbourne and Victoria.
The Australian GP achieves about $100 million in AVE awareness, and a later race could add another $50 million to that.
Karen,
Nice to hear from you. Interesting point. Andrew is a lovely fellow, but to whom does he have to answer? Ron Walker. And is Ron going to buckle under for your boss? The pair of them are constantly wrestling – in a friendly way. If Ron and Bernie agree then the race will go into the dark hours… But that is going to cost Bruce and Sheila Taxpayer a lot more money – and the whinge factor is going to increase. Love to know how you dreamed up the $50m awareness figure. I hear things are getting interesting down Cointrin way. Any comment?
The Herald Sun in Melbourne has gotten their readers all riled up with this story on their website already.
As for a night race, Ron Walker said that he is against it. The big problem other than the cost, is that Albert Park is in a residential area of Melbourne and that a night race would be very unpopular with the locals who’d have to get up for work/school the next morning. The only way to solve that would be to hold the race a week earlier on the Labour Day long weekend, but then the race would clash with the Moomba festival, which I believe is why the race was moved back.
That’s easy, just have the race on Saturday evening, like they do with NASCAR races in the U.S.
Or a Monday night when not much is happening on TV…
Joe – you underestimate the rivalry amongst the state governments. Bernie need only start to speak to any of them to relocate the GP, much like when it left Adelaide. If they are looking for a better timezone, then a move to Perth would be perfect as its much closer to Asia. The WA state is booming thanks to a once in a lifetime resources boom. The state is keen to attract more tourism and is investing heavily in its sports and tourism infrastructure. The city is also small enough to have a CBD style street race. Most importantly, the state is flush with money.
Yes, but will they part with the money?
Not a chance. Our state government kissed Rally Australia away as it wasn’t “profitable” in exchange for the Redbull Air Race and an iron man event.
There is a big difference between the WRC and F1! As Joe (and Karen) would be able to tell you from viewing numbers. I still maintain that there are plenty of publicity hungry politicians round the country interested in hosting a race. The people want their christians and lions, this is just a different colosseum.
Perhaps but not in WA. They are busy fighting about who’s going to fund the new stadium for the AFL, let alone forking over tens of millions of dollars a year in fees to Bernie and his merry men, plus whatever it would cost to run the event.
Sunset at that time of year in Melbourne is after 7.30PM with a long twilight, so it wouldn’t be too hard to push the start time back a little without requiring expensive lights (or even move the race forward onthe calandar to get a later sunset).
But the whole ‘must move times to accommodate Europe’ idea dosn’t completly jibe with Bernie’s desire to push into Asia. China and India are pretty close in time zone terms and my understanding is that there are quite a few people living there…
Proper twilight racing is a nightmare for the drivers though, who’ll repeatedly find themselves driving into the sunset – floodlit races at least give lighting from above and avoid dazzling anyone.
Other than shortening pre-season (not ideal, though possibly to be required to squeeze in yet more races) the other option is to dump Australia to the end of the season for the longest days.
An evening race in Aus doesn’t really do any harm for the Asian market as it’ll still be in the early evening for them. But it does leave the USA totally marginalised as the race will be in the wee hours of the morning for them.
By contrast, a 2pm start in Melbourne works out as Saturday evening TV in the US.
It’s called the thin end of the wedge… Andrew is letting us know what’s going to happen.
Ron and Bernie are mates from way back and whilst Ron will make noises for appearance sake, he’s really just rolling with Bernie.
Love the first line! lol
Do you think that the proposed race in Russia is one of those “other races ready to take the place of Australia” or will it just be added as a 21st/22nd race on the calendar?
I don’t get it at all. Whenever Bernie is on TV, his remarks seem to be from a man with dementure.
You underestimate the man. Respect him.
You must be able to see where Jonathan is coming from.
I know he’s ever so clever with the media (when necessary) but sometimes it seems like an old man lost on the grid.
Not, I do not agree.
Bernie makes a concerted effort to say a lot of nothing on TV.
Then he’ll come out with a completely outrageous crackpot idea like water sprinklers or medals so that the next set of reforms he does want to push through suddenly seem totally reasonable and acceptable – where previously they’d have been seen as unworkable and roundly rejected.
Isn’t this usually the time of year where he mentions his great medals system again? Thats his favourite hare-brained scheme to get people talking.
Its a bit like Michael O’Leary. Every year something appears in the papers and basically gives his airline a free publicity campaign and lots of airtime on tv, be it paying to use the toilet, standing room only flights or only 1 pilot on a flight.None of them are in any way viable, but it gets attention and bums on seats.
Nah, The Bernard has given up on the medals system I think. There are a few views on this, ranging from the least to most cynical :
1) It got batted down too heavily and is no longer credible, hence losing its previous misdirection value ;
2) It’s no longer relevant, it was a hot topic when Lewis beat Massa to the championship, but since then has dropped off the table (that said, Alonso and Vettel’s hypothetical medal haul in 2010 was identical) ;
3) The rise of Red Bull to the top table, mainly at the expense of Ferrari means that the much-loved red cars wouldn’t get many medals and pissing them off isn’t top of The Bernard’s to-do list.
Yes, listen to Joe, Paul. Bernie may mutter to himself when he is alone in a room, but never, NEVER does he say anything within other people’s hearing, that hasn’t been carefully considered and planned, and does not in some way further a goal he is trying to achieve. This is how he has made his millions. That is the point of the whole article. The Old Master at Work, indeed. The Master Manipulator.
Rupert Murdoch displayed signs of senility at the Commons hearings. He was doddering and paused and could barely get through a sentence without help. Oddly enough as soon as he’s back to launch the Sun on Sunday he displays no mental frailty and speaks coherently and without prompting.
You might almost say that Bernie knows the benefit of playing the baffled old geezer when he wants to…
Put it this way, I wouldn’t play Poker with the man.
I have a limited amount of respect for the man.He’s been in charge for just too long and is well past his sell by. Change is GOOD.
A man doesn’t become and remain a double billionaire without having a full set of marbles.
Really!!! I see an extremely shrewd businessman who has made himself and many others very rich. I love bernie!
Joe’s right.
Love or hate him, in 30 years, BE’s vision has created an industry that’s provided employment for THOUSANDS of people, directly and indirectly. That deserves respect above all else. And, in the face of disinterest and cynicism from everyone else, didn’t even start his business model until he was at least 50
Beat that!
Joe, you’ve said before that whatever Bernie says in public, usually the exact opposite is true – so do you think his insistance about Bahrain might be a sign of a chance it won’t go ahead?
Shurly it’s the meedjya, cue banalised Rimsky-Korsakov!
A certain rude detractor from earlier this diurnal cycle (whichever one I have been in) ought to be sucking this up . .
Talking of big clanging ones, we know BE has some, but I fear he is doing what he should not do: dangle about with one of the golden numbers, sunset or simply dusk. He is most certainly not playing by the numbers, in my book. I reckon he’s on a shakedown, across the board. Nerves. They always fall for that.
blimming well Misha Ippolitov-Ivanov, but I think that was used adapted (Concerto F) as a theme for Gilliam’s Münchausen, now the coffee kicks in. ‘least I did say banalised, somewhat accurately.
God bless Mr. E if he can wrangle all of the far Eastern races into live night time slots.
Tired of watching those events on taped replay here on the east coast U.S.A. on Sunday afternoons on SPEED. They broadcast them live but I am no longer able to gather myself to watch a 1:30 a.m. start, and I always look up the results before I watch the replays.
Ecclestone is clearly one of those you-had-to-be-there people. My respect for him is almost entirely due to my respect for you as a journalist. Without your usually positive interpretations of his behaviour, I’d see him as a charmless chancer, shrewd but shallow, and that’s all. For that reason alone, it’s fascinating.
On the money Joe
here it is from the melbourne age
http://www.theage.com.au/sport/motorsport/night-night-melbourne-20120229-1u3td.html
Joe Rons been on Melb Radio this morning and has said no to a night GP and its just Bearnie Saber Rattling as Bernie does this every year…. Looking foward to the your annual evening here …
Another year, another threat (well, the same threat each time really). And, as others have already mentioned, the mainstream media fall for it every single time.
We’ve already seen the Bernie side in the papers, so very shortly will be the pro-race vs anti-race columnists at each other then the everyday journos will make poor attempts at covering what they don’t understand (plus the motorsport journos writing their usual stuff still stuck at the back of the paper) followed by some anti-race stuff when the bills come out and, shortly after, we’re a few weeks out from the race and it all starts again.
BTW, I’m not disparaging the non-motorsport journos, but rather those that make them write on what they don’t know. Fashion writers just need fashion, location less important, but why do some journos do race reports when they know nothing about racing. I’m sure it’s related to the amount one person can write, but even so they have motorsport people on staff or on call.
P.S. Bernie hasn’t changed tactics in years, quite simply because he doesn’t have to.
I was very interested to hear the response on morning radio here in Melbourne to Bernie’s latest comments. The morning announcer (Neil Mitchell), on Melbourne’s most listened to talk-back station, made the observation that this is just classic Bernie-talk, we’ve heard it all before and now realise it’s part of the tactics of the master negotiator.
And he’s right, F1 has been here long enough for even most casual fans to realise that he’s creating publicity and playing his usual games. That’s not to say there won’t be the usual media response and some good publicity, there will be, but it doesn’t have the same impact it used to.
Hello Joe,
Which biography about Bernie would you recommend pse?
Thanks
Susan Watkins and Terry Lovell.
I’ll second the Terry Lovell. Just to add that ‘King of sport’ is the same as ‘Bernie’s game’ but with a few extra chapters added (according to Amazon). I’ve only read ‘Bernie’s Game’
Yes, some people buy his bull.
“Yes, some people buy his bull.” Assuming this to be a critisism, ask yourself how exactly has his “bull” had a negative impact on your life, and how would your life be better, if Bernie didn’t exist?
Wow.
Lol – its a bit later that I expected – but I posted this a few weeks ago around here somewhere
“I await the 2012 Bernie comment saying Melbourne must be a night race or it will lose the grand prix. (Its due any day now to get some headline time in the off season)”
Which is pretty hard to take when
- Melbourne has attendance (How many tracks actually get more than 100000 on race day?) – and it widely regarded as a success (How many spectators will turn up in Bahrain – how many will complain about the Indian facilities?)
- Pays the bloody (Huge) bill (Not asking for a discount liek South Korea, Valencia and Malaysia?/Singapore?)
- There are other tracks failing like Turkey and South Korea- and Europe’s economy is screwed – while Australia is one of the few countries not putting in austerity measures.
But Bernie does love trolling the media – like that whole medals idea – so it should be taken with a grain of salt. (I hope)
I’m also kind of looking forward to seeing the whole twilight thing fail one year as well
I miss the 2:00pm starts – and liked it being one of the few GPs Aussies don’t have to wait till 10:00pm for.
It was pretty bloody dark on the Saturday of last year with a bit of cloud cover- the V8s had to have their lights on after qual (And I think I remember Rubens complaining it was dangerous)
All it will take is some dense cloud cover (Which we have right now- with a massive rain band) – and it will need to be called short.
BTW – One last question – Why is Suzuka never threatened with a twilight/night race like other asian tracks?
Good question. Probably because F1 needs Japan.
Japan has more car manufacturers – there aren’t any in at the moment but over the past few decades A) quite a few cars have been running Japanese engines (whether development is in the west or not, the investment has come from the east) and B) reliable engine supply has been one of the real threats to the continued existence of the sport – the FIA has had to repeatedly relax rules about the number of teams who can use the same engine to keep the grid full.
To that end, bullying Japan about its race is a really, really bad idea.
Melbourne will hold onto it as it is part of the big events strategy that underwrites Melbourne’s growth from back in the 80s when the banks went broke and Jeff Kennet started to turn it all around. Coupled with the Australian Open, Grand Final, World Cup Sailing and more global events it underwrites domestic and international tourism that created many businesses and jobs. Melb should go to a night race to fit with global TV market and it will over time.
What is the size of the Japanese, SE Asia, Middle East and Chinese TV Market compared to Europe Joe?
That depends on who you believe.
I like that the Australian GP is on at Silly O’Clock in the UK.
It fires a warning shot across the family’s bows that if I’m daft enough to watch that race live woe betide them from arranging any functions/events on any of the forthcoming Sundays.
I also like that there IS an Australian GP – it makes F1 feel “global” , I’ve watched every one since ’85 so I hope the reports above are just posturing and negotiating .
Ok, so I’m not trying tot roll here, genuinely. And I’m a massive fan of Bernie, having read every book on the guy.
But something here seems odd. You rightly respect Bernie’s ability to say one thing and mean another, and basically play the media like a fiddle. This naturally involves a variety of untruths, half-truths, shadows and misdirections. But a while back when Vijay Mally denied that his team was for sale, just prior to the investment / takeover / purchase / whatever by Sahara, you were clearly very riled up about it.
What was the difference? If anything, Mallya had a more direct, urgent need to misdirect, as he was evidently still either in t he midst of negotiating or else had concluded the deal but not yet felt ready to declare it to the world at large, for reasons you and I probably don’t know. So I’m curious why, when Bernie (or for example someone like Frank Williams) sprinkles some untruths around it’s correctly labelled media mastery, yet you were so wounded by Mallya doing the same…
I don’t give a stuff about Mallya and I was not wounded by him. It is good for these people to learn sometimes that they cannot always get away with talking crap. That is all. He talks a lot of crap and so needs to learn more than most.
“It is good for these people to learn sometimes that they cannot always get away with talking crap”
Entirely agree – it’s just that some of us from time to time feel the same way about Ecclestone.
And another angle is you can talk crap if you are known to give a damn. I know guys who BS for England, and win. They are tolerated because they come down on the right side, in a pinch. And loved because of that. You might have to prod them, but you might have to prod anyone. I was brought up by such people. I have a distaste for unproductive crap talk, delivered with no humor and no love of life. VJM just sets my bells ringing, in dischord.
Bernie isn’t lieing or telling half-truthes, it’s just he is chosing when to announce certain facts.
The fact is Bernie wants more money and Australia is required for F1 to run. He choses to say that now and not later. Different result, same fact.
Great intro Joe…
Except Bernie doesn’t quite get that fact that outside of F1′s hardcore no one really cares about this stuff. Particularly so given F1 gradual eradication from Free to air television stations.
Look at how the ‘chattering classes’ chatter about Cricket nowadays.
They don’t.
Just Today V8 supercars are talking about the Clispal 500 saturday race being under lights (for those who don’t know it uses a slightly shortend version of the Adelaide Grand Prix circuit). The noise allowence ends at 10pm. http://www.v8supercars.com.au/championship/newsarticle/quick-chat-clipsal-500-under-lights/tabid/70/newsid/12189/default.aspx
That might give Bernie a bit of a negotiating advantage.
Also a bit of shameless self promotion for my Clipsal 500 circuit preview http://www.australianautosportcommunity.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1460
There’s been talk of this for some time.
When the viewing figures for Asia outweigh Europe and the rest of the world perhaps they will return to a lunchtime slot for this part of the world.
I personally love the irony of him talking about the importance of the European Market to him, yet simultaneously taking important European races away from us and making us watch races from sterile, poorly attended backwaters
Bernie’s going to kill F1 about the same time as he drops dead of age.
As much as I like the F1 race, I’d rather not be held to ransom by Bernie. His race fee demands are just becoming absurd lately, let someone else pay.
People are quick to point out the economic benefit the F1 brings to Melbourne, but they should perhaps consider an alternative perspective. A race fee of $55m comes out of the public purse. Taxes come from profits, at 30c in the dollar, so $180 million of profit needs to be made. The typical net profit margin for hospitality is around 10%, so tourists need to spend $1.8 billion.
Something doesnt add up…
It’s so very much more than just hospitality income over the race weekend though. It’s about building the Melbourne ‘brand’ internationally. You can’t put a price on the degree to which F1 does that for us, not just during the race weekend, but throughout the year.
How about the money Melbourne spends on other events though?
For example, they’re spending $363 million on an upgrade of the Melbourne Park tennis precinct.
A little bit off topic Joe, but I just saw this interesting piece http://www.sportspromedia.com/notes_and_insights/formula_one_teams_incapable_of_working_together_for_new_deal_says_fota_advi/ an interview with that guy FOTA engaged to support their Concorde agreement negotiation.
I just don’t think you can overstate just how much the Australian media does not care about – or rate – motorsport.
An example from today
- V8 Supercars – much more coverage/popularity than F1 in this country – first round of season.
Reigning champion wins on very last lap a week after his father died- fantastic race- and great story.
Not mentioned on the front page sports section on theage.com.au, abc.net.au/news, or http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ (Whereas a cancelled AFL pre-season match was major news)
Even Athleltics gets more of a mention that motorsport.
Good luck trying to get Australians to care about F1 – and pay the price – if the media doesn’t care.
So in that context – I just cant see how Victoria will get support for the GP price going up even more to facilitate nice racing – mum and dad joe public would rather pay for the football or tennis
I meant “night racing” – not “nice racing” – oops
I live in Adelaide and genuinely love F1 but Melbourne is welcome to the Australian GP. As sorry as many here were to lose the race to Melbourne in 1996, the fact is that the taxpayer forked out millions to prop up an event that can’t support itself commercially under the current business model. In effect F1 is the Greece of the international sporting scene. It overpays itself and expects taxpayers in other countries to pay to keep it in the style to which it has become accustomed (OK let’s add the Olympics in there as well). And the big lie is the benefit to a city of exposure through F1, which is constantly overstated. As an example Adelaide had the race for 11 years and i’m not aware of any sense that there was any measurable benefit in terms of tourism visitation that extended into the years beyond 1995. Here’s an interesting question: what would F1 look like if it decided to become a business that could exist without state support?
Perhaps Adelaide have an eye to reclaim the Aust Grand Prix after comments made at the Clipsal 500 (V8 supercars) over weekend with a view to night racing for V8′s on the former GP circuit.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/clipsal-500-adelaide/clipsal-500-could-be-raced-at-night-in-adelaide/story-e6freaqu-1226286421908