Bernie Ecclestone faces F1 sale lawsuit

[WhiteBlue]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/fina ... wsuit.html

It looks like the former owners - EM.TV - are now going after Bernie. Great news! I hope they get the old bugger und put him in jail or at least out of a job.

[dren]

There is a lot of hate for Bernie, but he's done a lot of good for F1.

[tathan]

only when it coincided with doing a lot of good for Bernie Ecclestone

[dren]

Doesn't deminish the fact that he did a lot of good for F1. Everyone is driven by self interests.

[WhiteBlue]

He made a lot of money for for himself, the teams and ripped off the fans and the race venues. Many good and traditional circuits have gone bust over his exploitation scheme. And most fans can't afford race tickets at the prices Ecclestone makes the circuits charge. He is an evil man who should be removed from F1 ASAP for the good of the sport.

[wesley123]

He made a lot of money for for himself, the teams and ripped off the fans and the race venues. Many good and traditional circuits have gone bust over his exploitation scheme. And most fans can't afford race tickets at the prices Ecclestone makes the circuits charge. He is an evil man who should be removed from F1 ASAP for the good of the sport.

I have to agree.

Although he did good things to the sport, made it well known and worth a fortune, he is only making usre his retirement funds are okay the past 10 years. He just is getting to old and cannot keep up anymore, the teams would be more well funded without him right now.

If I am correct, teams get 48% of the income, Ecclestone and F1 shareholders get 52%, this alone is an ridiculous percentage. The formula 1 teams make the sport, these guys should get a lot more of the cake, instead Bernie and the FIA think the F1 should be cheaper as else teams couldnt afford it anymore, this all while filling their pockets even more. give the teams 70% evenly shared among the teams and they will be way better funded.

[godlameroso]

What do you expect from a former used car salesman, a good deal?

[donskar]

I am in complete agreement with WB. Snow plows and salt spreaders are preparing for use on the roads in hell.

[SiLo]

Would be nice to see the back of him. Maybe then the sport can get on with it, sort out the percentage of rights given to each team, and we can see some more stability.

[dren]

He made a lot of money for for himself, the teams and ripped off the fans and the race venues. Many good and traditional circuits have gone bust over his exploitation scheme. And most fans can't afford race tickets at the prices Ecclestone makes the circuits charge. He is an evil man who should be removed from F1 ASAP for the good of the sport.

I have to agree.

Although he did good things to the sport, made it well known and worth a fortune, he is only making usre his retirement funds are okay the past 10 years. He just is getting to old and cannot keep up anymore, the teams would be more well funded without him right now.

If I am correct, teams get 48% of the income, Ecclestone and F1 shareholders get 52%, this alone is an ridiculous percentage. The formula 1 teams make the sport, these guys should get a lot more of the cake, instead Bernie and the FIA think the F1 should be cheaper as else teams couldnt afford it anymore, this all while filling their pockets even more. give the teams 70% evenly shared among the teams and they will be way better funded.

The teams make the sport, but they don't own the sport. Ecclestone is one hell of a promoter. On the other hand, I'd like to have cheaper ticket prices and some different races.

[Fil]

The teams absolutely love him, CVC absolutely love him, the FIA absolutely love him, even some track promoters absolutely love him.

So if the major players in F1 adore him, I find it odd that there is so much negativity here.


He's made this sport what it is today more-so than the teams have. They've just (willingly) followed his lead with the same fervour & adoration as a pet dog.

Speak to those who work for an F1 team (beyond the grease monkeys!) and you'll quickly realise how involved he is within each and every team on a day-to-day basis.
We honestly don't know 95% of what he does for Formula 1. He is the ultimate guardian of the sport that we are all so passionate about.


Unfortunately that means he's done some dodgy deeds for the greater good (both for his great pockets & for F1). This lawsuit is could be an example of that. Equally, this could just be opportunism at a time when he's already under severe pressure in Germany..

[sknguy]

...Ecclestone is one hell of a promoter. On the other hand, I'd like to have cheaper ticket prices and some different races.

I think that F1's, or Bernie's, promotion of the sport is limited to schmoozing the sponsors. Being across the pond, the only promotion of F1 here in Canada that I've ever seen were the odd team tv commercials. Such as those from Honda and Toyota. As well, those promoting the Canadian GP like the television network in conjunction with race sponsors. I know of no other "F1" sponsored events here.

If you mention the race series to someone they vaguely refer to "hearing" about F1. Once I got the response "yeah, they've become interesting once they went all high tech" . I think most of the public promotion of the sport has been done by companies other than F1 itself. Bernie's only good at baiting sponsors actually. The one unfortunate thing is that F1 still functions in relative isolation from everyone else... at least that's my perception from over here. And it's not exactly a high profile sport over here, save maybe in Montreal.

[WhiteBlue]

I wonder how long it will take the pressure from American pension funds to build in order to make CVC drop the crook. Certainly these kind of investors are very unhappy with shady deals and negative publicity.