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Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 7:31 pm
by Argentum
Not seen a thread on this, but seems Bernie has been replaced by Chase Sarey.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... mula-1-ceo

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 7:56 pm
by jimmyj
Not totally surprised. This should be interesting.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:25 pm
by Lotus49
End of an era.

Bernie is a huge reason F1 is where it is and worth as much as it is and such an attractive project for LM now but I think the time was right for a new era.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:30 pm
by F1 MERCENARY
Seems it's so and about damn time too!

As for him being responsible for where it is today, absolutely correct, but also why it's not worth more than it should have been for a good number of years now.
Let's hope Liberty's changes are indeed for the better and that it helps F1 prosper and get back to growing again rather than holding onto it's spot in terms of global appeal.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:32 pm
by Lotus49
Looks like Ross Brawn will run the sporting and technical side and Sean Bratches the commercial side.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/eccle ... f1-868019/

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:40 pm
by Zoue
Mixed feelings. I have tremendous respect for what Bernie has done for F1, but at the same time I found some of his decisions questionable and damaging to the sport (comedy tyres, anyone?). Possibly the right time for a change, but at the same time at little nervous about what the future holds...

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:43 pm
by Blake
Bernie is well past his use by date as regards F1. Yes, he played a key role in its growth, but over the last many years (decade) he has been a very negative source as well as a source of problems. if he is gone (should have been gone long before..and in jail), I say "Harrah!!!"

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:12 pm
by Paolo_Lasardi
Blake wrote:Bernie is well past his use by date as regards F1. Yes, he played a key role in its growth, but over the last many years (decade) he has been a very negative source as well as a source of problems. if he is gone (should have been gone long before..and in jail), I say "Harrah!!!"
:thumbup:

Add to this that he is the main responsible person for the problem that F1 has lost out on the younger generation and suffers from prohibitive hurdles to access (both at the tracks and on free TV, YouTube, social media, etc.) - both together being a main reason of decline in viewing figures.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:16 pm
by Vyse
Return to V10?

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:18 pm
by slide
chase carey is in charge now -motorsport.com

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:22 pm
by Option or Prime
So was the British GP withdrawal designed to span this transition deliberately I wonder?

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:23 pm
by Black_Flag_11
.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:46 pm
by Pest44
Long over due but glad this has finally happened. Like the above people have said made F1 a big sport but has now taken it back to the dark ages in recent years. Liberty are making all the right noises about wanting to keep historical races and make the fans more involved and I just hope they go through with all these promises

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:57 pm
by SDLRob
About time... what good Bernie's done for the sport has now been hidden behind the harm he's helped cause.

Hope he has a long and happy retirement.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 10:53 pm
by mikeyg123
You won't miss what you've got until it's gone. Has anyone seen the 2017 Nascar scoring rules?

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 11:34 pm
by dizlexik
Blake wrote:Bernie is well past his use by date as regards F1. Yes, he played a key role in its growth, but over the last many years (decade) he has been a very negative source as well as a source of problems. if he is gone (should have been gone long before..and in jail), I say "Harrah!!!"
It's complicated, because about decade ago he sold F1 and only then he started screwing up track owners. But he also missed whole digital age and many of his recent proposals were absurd. He also forgot USA exist. Overall I think his impact on F1 has been positive, especially for the first 30 years or so.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:25 am
by mcdo
I never thought I'd see the day. Hard to know whether this will work out for the better or not. When I see things like Zak Brown now saying F1 will be "more fan friendly" I shudder at the thought of what he might mean exactly

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:26 am
by mcdo
mikeyg123 wrote:You won't miss what you've got until it's gone. Has anyone seen the 2017 Nascar scoring rules?
I'm just after getting into NASCAR and now I feel I have to start from scratch again. They're absolutely insane

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:22 am
by Randine
Vyse wrote:Return to V10?
Ha, not with the current contracts in place.
Unless all teams agree to a new engine format, it will be the hybrids up till 2019 I believe.
So I think 2020 is the first opportunity to have all new engines.

When I read the title, given Bernie's age, I thought gone meant gone.
He was past it. He has given great service to the sport and made it what it is today.
However he started to lose touch about 8-10 years ago and hasn't kept pace with a good online strategy.
The formula 1 website is sanitised and you don't go there to find out about controversial issues.
The new guy is 62, so 20+ years younger than Bernie, but also maybe too old in my opinion.
Look at Horner and Wolff for example, they are both around 42 years old and more than capable of the pressure of the spotlight.
(I am not saying that either of these guys should run F1, just that an 40+ year old might be better to modernise F1 than a 62 or 86 year old. No offence intended to older guys on here as some people are very young at heart and do keep up with modern technology)

Good luck to the new guy. I just hope we don't see cheer leader and marching bands introduced at every race...!

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:22 am
by sandman1347
Bernie has long-since lost touch with the public and has been driving the sport into the abyss for over a decade. It was high time he was shown the door. I'm excited to see what the future holds for the sport. Perhaps the new leadership will not be so tone deaf with regards to what the fans actually want to see and, perhaps more importantly, how they want to see it.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:18 am
by paul_gmb
sad to see him go. I enjoyed the F1 he created.

On another note, I do agree that maybe it is not as hipsterish as other sports/events are. But this is why I enjoyed it.

Also, making it more american, is not really an approach for me. No dissrespect for our friends over the ocean, but we live on the other side for a reason.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:23 am
by Zoue
mcdo wrote:I never thought I'd see the day. Hard to know whether this will work out for the better or not. When I see things like Zak Brown now saying F1 will be "more fan friendly" I shudder at the thought of what he might mean exactly
+1

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 7:08 am
by Branovitsj
It was time for him to go. Let's make Formula 1 great again! :lol:

Bring back the V10's please.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:13 am
by 2fast

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:42 am
by Option or Prime
Option or Prime wrote:So was the British GP withdrawal designed to span this transition deliberately I wonder?
My point on this is that we have known for some time that Bernie would be marginalised and roughly when. Silverstone are seriously concerned about the "cost escalator" and want out and realised that Liberty Media had a different view. This is a quote from an article on the BBC website:

"Liberty Media - has looked at this, at a skewed prize-money structure, at a policy that is threatening to price out much-loved historic races in favour of characterless new ones in countries with questionable regimes"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38721123

Bernie Ecclestone going might have saved the British Grand Prix.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:59 am
by ALESI
Why would Bernie leaving mean the return of the V10s? He hated the hybrids!

Maybe the new owner might want to bring back a normal engine, but it won't be anytime soon and he's going to have to deal with Mercedes, Renault, Honda and Ferrari and if they all stick together what are they going to do?

Mind you, the FIA make the engine rules not the owner anyway.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:09 am
by Harpo
Not too soon... Good riddance !

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:13 am
by Alex53
For all his faults, Bernie knew how to keep the teams in line to keep F1 together.

That includes stuff like the extra money for Ferrari.

Totally unfair, but if LM try to address these deals and probably others we don't know about, they could very quickly be dealing with the big teams using their leverage to get their way or wanting to leave F1 to create a rival series. It could all go pear shaped very quickly and people might then see that Bernie's way was a necessary evil.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:14 am
by Branovitsj
ALESI wrote:Why would Bernie leaving mean the return of the V10s? He hated the hybrids!

Maybe the new owner might want to bring back a normal engine, but it won't be anytime soon and he's going to have to deal with Mercedes, Renault, Honda and Ferrari and if they all stick together what are they going to do?

Mind you, the FIA make the engine rules not the owner anyway.
Bringing back the V10's would be cheaper, giving more room for new private teams to form and cutting costs.
It would make the sport more exciting and more "extreme", and that's what F1 has always been about.

Let's see how the new rules play out in the upcoming season.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:16 am
by ALESI
Thinking about it, how much longer can F1 be at the cutting edge and road relevant? If cars are going to be more and more autonomous and electric less and less of F1 tech is going to be relevant. There has to come a point where F1 says no this isn't a showcase for the manufacturers it's a sport. The tail has been wagging the dog for too long. Time to make some hard changes and if the manufacturers want to leave, let them.

The problem will be that corporations are loathe to take decisions like this, big business doesn't generally have the balls to take a short term hit to make a long term difference. It depends how they see the future. The 'golden days' of F1 featured Ferrari and a load of racing teams after all.

One thing is for sure they need engine rules which allow for a Cosworth style manufacturer to offer an alternative so that the engine makers don't control the sport and the order of the teams. Someone else suggested on here the other day that the first rule the new owners should push for is that manufacturers must supply their customers with the same engines, but they must also supply them the software to run those engines to the same spec.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:17 am
by James14
Zoue wrote:
mcdo wrote:I never thought I'd see the day. Hard to know whether this will work out for the better or not. When I see things like Zak Brown now saying F1 will be "more fan friendly" I shudder at the thought of what he might mean exactly
+1
Often it is the case 'better the devil you know'.

One thing I won't miss is Bernie had not one iota of sympathy for the smaller teams in financial trouble. Whether this changes is debatable though.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:21 am
by Ennis
Branovitsj wrote:
ALESI wrote:Why would Bernie leaving mean the return of the V10s? He hated the hybrids!

Maybe the new owner might want to bring back a normal engine, but it won't be anytime soon and he's going to have to deal with Mercedes, Renault, Honda and Ferrari and if they all stick together what are they going to do?

Mind you, the FIA make the engine rules not the owner anyway.
Bringing back the V10's would be cheaper, giving more room for new private teams to form and cutting costs.
It would make the sport more exciting and more "extreme", and that's what F1 has always been about.

Let's see how the new rules play out in the upcoming season.
I agree with this very narrow view, the issue is the bigger picture that comes with it.

Are engine manufacturers willing to invest all this money in V10s? Will they just walk away to a cheaper sport where they see more ROI? Whether we like it or not they want some of that R&D to benefit their 'normal' cars..

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:21 am
by MistaVega23
Branovitsj wrote:It was time for him to go. Let's make Formula 1 great again! :lol:

Bring back the V10's please.
The FIA are in charge of this. Not Bernie. Besides we'll never see these engines back in F1, ever.

I'm glad Bernie's gone. He stayed about 10-15 years too long and in doing so has harmed F1's global appeal, whether it was the ludicrous ideas (medals and sprinklers, anyone?) or complete greed when it came to new F1 venues and constantly threatening the classic races.

Hopefully LM will steady the ship and take the sport forward. The hiring of Brawn is a massive coup.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:26 am
by James14
ALESI wrote:Thinking about it, how much longer can F1 be at the cutting edge and road relevant? If cars are going to be more and more autonomous and electric less and less of F1 tech is going to be relevant. There has to come a point where F1 says no this isn't a showcase for the manufacturers it's a sport. The tail has been wagging the dog for too long. Time to make some hard changes and if the manufacturers want to leave, let them.

The problem will be that corporations are loathe to take decisions like this, big business doesn't generally have the balls to take a short term hit to make a long term difference. It depends how they see the future. The 'golden days' of F1 featured Ferrari and a load of racing teams after all.

One thing is for sure they need engine rules which allow for a Cosworth style manufacturer to offer an alternative so that the engine makers don't control the sport and the order of the teams. Someone else suggested on here the other day that the first rule the new owners should push for is that manufacturers must supply their customers with the same engines, but they must also supply them the software to run those engines to the same spec.
I often think the road relevancy thing is something started by sport divisions trying to sell extra investment to their parent companies and if they 'buy it' they then try and sell it to shareholders as an excuse for huge money being put into their sport division.
There is no relevancy between F1 and a road legal car and nor should it.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:27 am
by Caserole of Nonsense
Anything bernie has done to improve the sport was because he saw money making potential. He is a canny businessman but nothing else. And as is usually the case, money is a drug.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:43 am
by mikeyg123
Caserole of Nonsense wrote:Anything bernie has done to improve the sport was because he saw money making potential. He is a canny businessman but nothing else. And as is usually the case, money is a drug.
A lot of people saying this sort of thing but what do they think Liberty is in F1 for? It's going to be as much all about the money as ever. Bernie is far more of a racing man than Chase.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:55 am
by PT03
mikeyg123 wrote:You won't miss what you've got until it's gone. Has anyone seen the 2017 Nascar scoring rules?
oh no .....here we go with 'Boogity boogity boogity lets go racing!' - here comes the fake rivalry between drivers and the made up stories, just what F1 needs :thumbdown:

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:07 am
by Biffa
Mixed feelings, yes it is probably time for him to step down however I wouldn’t like to think he’s been ousted.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:26 am
by Caserole of Nonsense
mikeyg123 wrote:
Caserole of Nonsense wrote:Anything bernie has done to improve the sport was because he saw money making potential. He is a canny businessman but nothing else. And as is usually the case, money is a drug.
A lot of people saying this sort of thing but what do they think Liberty is in F1 for? It's going to be as much all about the money as ever. Bernie is far more of a racing man than Chase.
agree, though i dont think bernie really cared about the racing, only what effect the quality of racing had on his bank balance.

liberty want to make bucket loads more. that is the bottom line. i dont know what their views on pay tv are but unfortunately i see a continued phasing out of any remaining free to air.

Re: Ecclestone Gone?

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:47 am
by Herb
mikeyg123 wrote:
Caserole of Nonsense wrote:Anything bernie has done to improve the sport was because he saw money making potential. He is a canny businessman but nothing else. And as is usually the case, money is a drug.
A lot of people saying this sort of thing but what do they think Liberty is in F1 for? It's going to be as much all about the money as ever. Bernie is far more of a racing man than Chase.
Completely agree - Bernie being replaced with one of Rupert Murdoch's men is hardly going mean they will stop looking at the bottomline.

The appointment of Brawn is obviously good news - but I'm not convinced the LM takeover is going to be that big a change just yet.