The http://www.formula1.com website belongs to the Formula One group although, ironically, it has never been able to negotiation deals to acquire either http://www.formulaone.com or http://www.grandprix.com. Thus any interview with Bernie Ecclestone that appears on the http://www.formula1.com is somewhat akin to reading propaganda dropped from aircraft at time of war.
Nonetheless such things do provide a useful insight into the psychology of the folk at the Formula One group, and what the message is that they wish to deliver. Thus, after some headline grabbing waffle about Michael Schumacher and a mild complaint about drivers not being allowed to have character, plus a plug for the documentary film about Formula 1, called “1”, the real messages were delivered.
What would Mr E like to change in F1?
“Nothing really,” he said. “We have to understand that we are in the entertainment business and this year we have entertained. All sports today are show business and it gets dangerous for a sport if people start to forget that.”
There is a message also about the calendar.
“I suppose the next big thing will be Russia. Then we have to get this New York thing picking up again. There’s lots of unfinished business – no time to waste one thought on retirement! Look at the Austin race: it was phenomenal. Everybody agreed that it is great that Formula 1 is back in the States. Maybe we’ll get the Europeans to wake up instead of thinking that it (a race) is a God-given thing. When Europeans perform and do their job we are happy to stay.”
And an “I’m here to stay” message at the end.
“I am – still – a fan of Formula 1. Probably the bad thing with me is that I put in lots of effort to build Formula 1 the way it is now, so this is my baby and I want to look after it. Sooner or later we’re going to have to get a babysitter. When that will be, who knows? I am in very good shape.”
joeblogsf1 
Bernie always makes me smile, because everything he says (and doesn´t say) is done for a reason. There´s always a hidden agenda.
We all knows he mainly cares about the money (of which he has more than Schumacher, but that whole ‘He doesn’t have to work, doesn’t that sound good?’ thing doesn’t apply to Mr. E himself), but I believe him when he says he is an F1 fan. he couldn’t do this job without being so.
Just think, Joe, could you write so full of attention and detail and passion about something you’re not interested in?
Like Italian politics?
He’s not working, he’s enjoying himself ! and along the way, yes, he’s made money, but also created more jobs for people than most politicians
What a very good point. We like to vilify Mr E and of late he has become something of a panto villain but he has indeed created a large industry that indirectly employs many thousands of people
He’s behind you!
Oh no he’s not!
I’d be very interested to know what Bernie does and don’t say he runs this and runs that… but to know what he he physically does. Because I bet 90% of Bernie’s work is done by lawyers and other business people that just carry out request and get the right people to do that job.
I bit like bloke who owns the company you work , you know he’s the big boss… what what does he really do himself. he sure as hell doesn’t make the coffee!!!
so can anyone really answer this??? What does Bernie actually do???? I get the impress he dreams up and ideas, tells someone what he dreamt, and they go off and do it.
He runs the business.
He work ON not IN his business, the same as any successful business owner does
Making coffee excepted, I would expect that Bernie is quite involved at the detail level on almost every aspect of F1. To say otherwise is to not understand the personality in question.
Exactly.
You mean apart from negotiating all those complex contracts and the most complex contract of them all – the Concorde? There are tales of Bernie getting his hands dirty, though I haven’t heard any recently. Like the time the markings in the pit lane were not up to snuff and Bernie wanted different colour markings to help the drivers identify the pits. He sent out for a special tape (rolls of various colours) and then got down on his hands and knees and marked the first couple out by hand so as the guys who had to do the rest of the pits knew exactly what was required.
“Maybe we’ll get the Europeans to wake up and pay us the stupid fees we want.”
If they were stupid people would not pay them.
Stupid people do.
I guess you don’t understand the business model.
‘Stupid’ maybe the wrong word but I guess there is a kind of irony in having countries with little F1 or even motorsport heritage paying the Earth to run indifferently supported events at increasingly inconvenient times of the day so European fans can watch them on the box for nothing!
With so much money coming from those TV rights (and there’s the rub of it), I do sometimes wonder how long the broadcasters will continue paying if they come to peceive F1 as a non-European sport, like NASCAR or American Footbal that receive Eurpopean coverage but not at premium prices.
Maybe. Which business model do you mean: CVC/Bernie’s or the promoters?
The CVC/Bernie model works well.
The promoter model works well if the local government gets involved.
Business plans that rely on a third party, in this case tax payers, picking up a large part of the bill, tend to run into problems.
Perahps you might mention that to Bernie Ecclestone
The State subsidised F1 business model is key to any succession plan as the likely candidates will need the ability to retain and entice political,industrial and sporting leaders.
You may have noticed when that is the case F1 moves on. BE seems to only makes exceptions when continued exposure is required eg the US and South America.
Or maybe ‘the Europeans’ will just create their own series and not have the races auction off for the largest fee rather than actually being good tracks or places were fans actually are interested or want to attend.
Is that before or after the pigs fly by?
Combine the two! Formula Flying Pig! Broad base of team ownership — a few FOTA diehards, Roger Waters, a Japanese outfit sponsored by Studio Ghibli…
What many possibly don’t realise is that Bernie has been around for longer than most in the sport, and knows not only the major team principals and players, but also a lot of people at government level as well.
What F1 is now is largely his creation, and he doesn’t have to do too much to keep it ticking over.
His range of contacts across the globe is a very effective tool when it comes to bargaining for what he wants or needs.
I’ve heard he frequently leaves race meetings before the end of the race. Is that so, and would that be normal for a fan?
I think he really means that he’s a fan of the entity that is Formula 1, not neccessarily of F1 racing.
Bernie is not a fan, he is a racer to the core, like Ron Dennis, Sir Frank Williams, Ken Tyrrell, Giancarlo Minardi and countless others, not just in F1 but ewverywhere in the sport. It’s a different state to just being a fan, however enthusiastic, because it means you actually devote your life to – and make your living, for better or worse, from – racing.
Sure, Bernie sometimes leaves a race early, because of other responsibilities. Once in Canada, when he still owned Brabham, he was on his way to the airport while one of his cars led the race, heading for a win. That was when he still travelled long-haul commercially, and he needed to get a plane that would get him back to London for work on Monday morning.
Because he has always been a prodigious worker. It may now involve less hands-on, but I don’t believe he has slowed down much despite his age. Some years ago he turned up at Silverstone on a GP Saturday looking a ghastly colour, having very recently had a major heart operation. Sid Watkins promptly sent him home, threatening an unpleasant digital examination if he turned up on race day ! Because it was Sid, Bernie obeyed … but I digress.
Talking of Sid, do we yet know who is replacing Gary? I fear that they are going to say that local amenities are sufficiently developed to be used now.
I am sorry Mr E, but if I want to watch racing as a ‘sport’, frozen somewhere in the past, technologically speaking, and run with the sole purpose of being entertaining, I will watch NASCAR, thank you…
I get dizzy watching NASCAR, what is it you actually find exciting about it Daniel?
That’s like saying Football is just kicking a bit of leather around isn’t? There’s room for everyone surely?
It is not that I find NASCAR really exciting. But then, I prefer watching real sports rather that wrestling-like ‘sports’, which NASCAR has become, IMHO. I gave several tries in the last decade to follow NASCAR on a regular basis but those fake yellow flags are a tremendous buzz kill. Otherwise the actual race, without all the off-track and on-track theatrics is quite enjoyable. Still it is not what I want for Formula 1. What Bernie seems to be imagining is this single-seater NASCAR and I don’t want that. I prefer FIA’s approach.
Daniel… may I ask why NASCAR runs? Is it not also for the sole purpose of entertaining?
I think that’s what Daniel meant.
I like to think that Formula 1 is still a sport. This means that there are teams and drivers out there who like to pit themselves against others using technologically advanced machinery just to to see who builds the better car or drives better, respectively. That is what I enjoy about F1 but if F1 needs to raise more cash to survive (which, as Joe Saward put it several times on this blog, only really needs the bankers to stop milking it) then a balance must be made to keep the sport real but, fair enough, entertaining. Reading all these Ecclestone quotes, it is not what he thinks and that pains me because of his huge influence on the sport.
As for the Europeans’ lack of god-given right, at least that’s a good quote for the Australians to use next time Bernie wants us to have a night race!
So Bernie’s having a dig at the Europeans makes a change from just Silverstone, perhaps he should remember it was the European circuits & fans in the 70/80/90s who lined his pockets long before the oil sheiks & governments with money to piss up the wall came along. If the Interlagos circuit was in europe it would not have a hope in hell of holding a F1 race.But as it is in South America & the only game in town, when there’s money at stake in Bernie’s world different standards apply.
I think Bernie was grateful enough to keep F1 in Europe so long. He likes consistency, easy-flowing business and money coming in, Europe is a pain in the arse in this respect.
Agreed. In the distant past, as a newspaper boy, a colleague of mine was fired because he was simply unable to match papers to addresses. He was a very nice kid but was fired. I silently expressed my disappointment at this and the newsagent said: ‘There’s no sentiment in business…!’ As a teenager I found this rather harsh but it was only a few years before I learned the truth of the statement.
I would imagine BE does have kind thoughts for those who helped him in the 70/80/90’s but, if they can’t compete in the current business model they go to the wall – sad as that is for all us oldie-mouldies – and many of you younger chaps as well.
Fair play, bernie has done a sterling job of F1, it has taken years to achive the business model he curently runs and lets not forget, he has made a lot of teams and their bosses very wealthy indeed. F1 was very amature affair in the 1970’s 80’s , when montezemolo slaged off bernie this week, it may have been a retaliation and the response to losing the WDC. Im not sticking up for bernie but you have to admire his achivement for the sport.
@peter – yeah, you are right. No room for sentiment in the world according to Bernie
The more I read about BCE, the less I understand the man. Having read a few biographies, I’m not sure that the authors did either.
One day he is a ruthless businessman; the next day I’ll read a story about great generosity on his part.
BCE allegedly has no interest in history; he is driven to deliver the next deal and create new history. At the same time he has created one of the greatest collections of historic racing cars which he occasionally shares with the world. And the sorrow that he displays for drivers who lost their lives in the sport is genuine.
The infuriating thing about his party political broadcasts is that we can never know when he is commenting on the sport or setting up the context for his next deal. His comments may even serve both aims.
But primarily the latter, as Joe’s piece seems to be saying. The message this time seems mainly to to centre around an irriitation about the gathering drumbeat about his age and when he will retire. I would imagine he hopes to die while still in the job, and he may well do so unless he loses his mental capacities first.
It’s interesting that he employs the term babysitter. You get a babysitter when you’re just going out for a while, but you’ll be back and it’s still your baby. His critics think F1 needs to be adopted, with no rights of access for the natural parent, which is altogether different.
F1 belongs to CVC and they seem happy to keep him. I can’t see why they should need to be concerned about what F1 fans think of that.
Could “babysitter” refer to the thinking that if things end up going badly for Bernie in Germany, he would need someone to look after things (according to his instructions) until he returns ?
It gets old, I have to say .
Why all the posturing, why don’t Bernie and CVC just give everything to the highest bidders, and be done with it ?
There are 2 races in ME deserts, there’s China, India and Korea, and a few more in locations that are of no interest to locals and international fans alike .
By all means, let them get rid of all the races where local business and government choose not to unconditionally burn money by supporting this F1 ‘business model’ .
Who needs Spa, Interlagos, Melbourne, Silverstone, when the same entertainment value can be created in Abu Dhabi and Mongolia ?
For all I know, the viewing figures might be the same – sans moi – and since it’s not a sport, according to BE, but a circus, F1 won’t need to care about relevance, only revenue – certainly the two are not connected , are they ?
Already half of the drivers are disposable fundraisers, and arguably all the tracks are , so let’s just stop pretending BE cares beyond the occasional old man sentimentality; CVC obviously doesn’t .
horster:
“Why all the posturing, why don’t Bernie and CVC just give everything to the highest bidders, and be done with it ?”
for the same reasons you don’t quit things you enjoy doing
“Thus any interview with Bernie Ecclestone that appears on the http://www.formula1.com is somewhat akin to reading propaganda dropped from aircraft at time of war.”
Presumably Mr S*lt was otherwise engaged on this occasion, possibly writing pompous articles about himself in the third person to flog to those without the good sense to know better.
Joe – Given a large chunk of the sport is owned by his ex-wife and kids, who have no interest in the sport, what potential is there for them to sell up (perhaps after Bernie passes away – possibly if there are clauses about control and golden votes whilst he is still around)?
They own only a small percentage.
Joe I know this is unrelated, but any updates on the driver’s market? Grosjean is still not announced and what about Adrian Sutil’s chances? will be obliged if you can enlighten!
The market has not changed since I wrote about it a few days ago.
But reports of Sutil’s return are gathering pace, do you have any updates on that? Thanks!
Not in my world they are not.
American open wheel racing needs to have someone like Bernie Ecclestone run the series, instead of the stupid car owners and IMS people who are continually shooting themselves in the foot,
Bernie does a few unscrupulous things but no more than the average politician, businessman or labor union figure.
Joe, at the end of the day I understand the business model. You maximize revenue. That’s all. All credits to Bernie for his work.
My question is this. If the commercial rights were not sold by the FIA what would F1 look like today?
We talk and complain (me) about the changes (tracks, prices) in F1 and we don’t like them. However, it might help to have refresher what the alternative would have been.
Thanks… and have a great holiday.
It would look the same, as the rights would still have been managed by FOM.
The EU commission effectively brought in the banks and the investment funds, not FOM or the FIA.
As for costs. 15(ish) years ago teams could win championships on less than Marussia spend today, why do they need US$300 million toady? Even taking inflation into account that’s a skyrocketing increase in spending to achieve exactly the same result, and that has to be paid for … The more the teams dig a bigger and bigger money pit, the more someone has to give them money to fill it.
if we listen to some of the commenters to this blog, F1 is doomed. What do think of that?
I think many people actually think ‘doomed as they know it’.
Lots of people are scared of change, something F1 does on a regular basis, so they see even minor rule changes as the beginning of the end, if that’s the case it’s been doomed since before the first championship race.
All things are subject to change, that’s the nature of existence.
It is kind of scary when we agree, isn’t it?
Species also die out, that’s the nature of existence as well unless one adapts.
One reason would be freight costs. Another the operational costs of an extra few races on the calendar. And the tightened technical and safety regulations. The “result” of team spending is participation in all the races and in that context, the result is not the same as it was 15 years ago.
I do appreciate that clearly these are not necessarily an especially large part of the inflated budgets in F1, consider it pure pedantry if you like.
As in all businesses, especially professional sport, there is advantage to be gained from gambling, from teetering on the financial brink. It was always thus.
Yeah, it is a skyrocketing increase.
I would think the money pit would be the team’s problem. So, if they didn’t get the money would F1 collapse?
You make it seem as though CVC are a charitable organisation! They pro-rata make even more money than the teams on whose back they make their profits – you know it’s a licence to print money. There’s no real correlation between the prices charged at circuits and the teams demands for more money and it’s disingenuous to say so. There’s no will to bring down the cost to the fans because the sporting body is separate from the organisation that runs it (at an enormous profit) – and the circuits are sat in between.
Sure, the teams spend stupid money but F1 generates stupid money.
“Sooner or later we’re going to have to get a babysitter” – some baby!
As Joe has pointed out many times F1 is a demographically ageing sport, so when you here BCE making statements akin to ‘all is well, no changes needed here’ it’s a bit of a concern. He needs to see that unless he gets the sport reaching out to children and young people right now, attendances and viewing figures will quietly begin to drop…
I said it in an article over on Sidepodcast, but why he doesn’t use art and concepts from the F1 Race Stars game to launch a new campaign through toys, cartoons and books to get the next generation is somewhat beyond me. The representations of Vettel, Alonso et al in that game are ripe for action figures, duvets and more, yet he blindly looks on hoping they’ll get invested automatically.
It’s a strange comparison, but Bernie in a lot of ways is very similar to Vince McMahon, the owner of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Both are self made, aggressive, clever businessmen who’ll do anything to succeed and have built their own little worlds, yet the one thing Vince recognises above all that Bernie doesn’t – snag em’ young and you’ve got them for life – head over to the WWE Shop and see that all their products are geared for children first, adults second.
Bernie would do well to notice that a few baseball caps aren’t cutting it anymore.
Hi Joe, bit of a late comment, but only just read the article. What does Bernie mean by this Q&A (relating to Schumacher)?
Q: So, if he is still a poster boy for the sport, have you ever tried to keep him involved in other roles?
BE: Well, we wouldn’t and we couldn’t keep him in another role because he is too close to Mercedes. It would have been easier when he was still close to Ferrari, I guess.
Why would it have been easier? Is that a reference to Jean Todt being a Ferrari man at the head of the FIA or something else?
I wondered that too, Growler. Rather curious comment…