02/11/2014
NEWS STORY
Bernie Ecclestone has admitted that Formula One is in crisis, and that he's not quite sure what to do about it.
Whilst Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were thrilling the crowds on track, behind the scenes there was increasing concern that tomorrow the sport would once again do a very good job of shooting itself in the foot.
Though Lotus owner Gerard Lopez dismissed talk of a boycott by his team tomorrow, Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley refused to rule out such action, even though such a move could do irreparable damage to the sport in a country still hurting from the debacle of Indianapolis 2005.
Ecclestone met with team bosses, in some cases twice, before inviting a number of journalists to discuss the situation facing the sport, a situation that, in part, has seen the collapse of two teams in the three weeks since the last round of the championship.
In a move that will confuse, and possibly strike fear into, his critics, Ecclestone admitted that the sport is in trouble and that he must take a share of the blame, before admitting that he's not entirely sure how the situation can be resolved.
"We have to decide the best way to sort this whole thing out," he said, according to Reuters. "Frankly, I know what's wrong but don't know how to fix it.
"No one is prepared to do anything about it because they can’t. The regulations have tied us up. The trouble with lots of regulations and lots of contracts is that we don’t think long-term.
"I've never felt helpless about anything," he admitted. "I'm not happy and we'll have to do something about it. The situation is such that if enough people want it resolved we can resolve it. It's a case of the people that are involved in the sport will have to want to look after the sport and be prepared to make some sacrifices.
"The problem is there is too much money probably being distributed badly," he continued, "and that's probably my fault, but like lots of agreements people make, they seemed a good idea at the time. Why not just bypass team bosses and go to heads of board? I think it’s probably what will have to happen."
Dismissing the threat of a boycott tomorrow, he said: "Forget all that crap. They will be racing, I give you a guarantee." Quickly adding "but I worry if they will be racing next year."
Friday's press conference highlighted the major chasm between the sort's haves and have-nots, not merely in terms of money but their approach to the sport, their philosophies. Ecclestone is aware that if the sport is to survive, let alone flourish, there needs to be a radical shake-up.
"We should tear all of the current contracts up, and start again," he declared. "We have to open the eyes of those people in a position to turn the lights on and off as to what they need to do because I wouldn't want to be in a position where I was too strong and Formula One disappears and someone says it is because of you it disappeared.
"I said to people (who are) getting a chunk of money that I would like to take a percentage of their performance-related payment, put that money together to divide among the three or four we know are in trouble but are not going to run away with the money and then I will put in the same amount of money. But there would not be one team that would think it was a good idea."
Insisting that he doesn't car how the money is divided, he pointed out that it is the big teams who cannot agree.
"It makes no difference to me how the money is shared out," he said. "If they sat down here with me now and said they want to share out all of the money we get in a different way, I would say, 'Good, give me the bit of paper'. It is getting the people who have invested in these engines to agree."
As if to prove his point, Niki Lauda and Marco Mattiacci, who were both present for the closing stages of the meeting, made it clear that their respective teams (Mercedes and Ferrari) are light years away from such an agreement.
"The shift has to be how to increase revenues," said the Italian, "the goal is not how to share in a different way the cake but how to make the cake bigger."
Now, putting everything else aside, just for a moment, when was the last time you heard Bernie admit to making a mistake?