i'm in for a good loathing of bernie. this current thing of later starts to gain uk tv veiwers is

 

In. I hate him as well.

 

bernie blood sucking f1 dry.
this part of a feb 18th interview with deitrich mateschitz.

The Formula 1 World Championship is owned by the FIA. The federation has, however, leased the commercial rights of the sport to the Formula One group of companies, established by Bernie Ecclestone, but in recent times controlled by the private equity company CVC Capital Partners. Other shareholdings belong to the executives, to the Ecclestone Family trust, known as Bambino Holdings and a sizeable share of around 15% is in the hands of the administrators of the Lehman Brothers, although CVC is believed to have an option to acquire these shares.

Mateschitz says that the involvement of the financial men is solely geared towards making as much money as possible and adds to the instability of the sport.

The CVC European Equity Partners IV Fund was established in 2005 and is believed to have a 10-year lifespan. It has been a remarkable success thus far, mainly because of the F1 investment which has produced huge profits. The sport has been left burdened with debt, secured on the future profits of the business. CVC's goal is to spend the next five years paying as much of the loans as possible before refinancing, which result in another pay day and then selling the business to a new investor. This could net the fund as much as $7.5bn on an investment of $1bn. The major problem is that while the fund will close in 2015, there needs to be a new deal with the teams agreed for 2013 and beyond. The teams are demanding a bigger share of the cash and now, it seems, equity as well.

The teams do have the option of starting their own championship under a different brand but the World Championship status would remain with the current series, although it is not clear what cars could be used if the F1 teams walked away. It is obviously in no-one's interest to split into two camps, but it is clear that there will be a fight if the Formula One group continues to say that it wants to retain the current profit margins.

 

I have been saying this for years. I absolutely hate this points system - it was put in place for one reason - to stop Ferrari and MS from winning the championships mid-year. So instead, it was decided 3/4 of the way when Ferrari and MS STILL won most of the races, the points gap was just not as big....

The points system that FOTA put forward is exactly the points system that should be in place imo. Given that the field is nowhere nearly as spread now, BE can still be happy that there will not be a large point spread now.

 

Oh that was one of the worst ideas ever....common engines in a racing sport supported by MANUFACTURERS!!!!

 

a common engine is not necessarily a bad thing, its how you get there.
one of the most successful eras for F1 had everyone almost everyone running cosworths.
BUT it was a market decision that took them there, not a mandate.

think about the opportunity for kick backs when you select the single engine vendor.....

 

A common engine is very bad unless you want to see Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, Toyota and Renault out.

There will never be (car manufacturer here) car powered by a common engine.

The sport will die without them.

 

Maybe we should change the subject of this thread to the "I HATE BERNIE AND MAX THREAD"

A single engine for every form of motorsport? Jayzuz. Mosley's turning into Balestre, but 20 years later! Sure - single engine manufacturer or spec for GP2 or F2 or the lesser formulae, but not at the top level where it's desirable for manufacturers duking it out.

 

gotta love these gems from Bernie...

"Button should take a sabatical"

"Honda is no great loss"

 

I'm on it!