Why We Should And Shouldn’t Care About Bernie Ecclestone
You may know the name Bernie Ecclestone, or perhaps not. Ecclestone is the famed, and sometimes loathed, CEO of Formula One. He was born in St Peter South Elmham, near Suffolk, England. Shortly thereafter his family moved to Bexleyheath, Kent, now a part of Greater London. Ecclestone left school at the age of 16 to work at the local gasworks, and pursue his hobby of motorcycles. His passion for racing helped him achieve careers in F1, and eventually taking the reigns of the world renounced sport. Since then his life has been shrouded in controversy – from being called a Nazi to having every race fan, driver, team leader and snack stand employee hate his guts.
Why should we be so mad at Ecclestone? And why does an organization like Formula One need his so badly?
Bernie’s Safety Issues
Ecclestone has come under fire at various times during his career for safety violations – whether it be tires, track inspections or the very care of his drivers. In October, 2004 he and British Racing Drivers’ Club president Jackie Stewart were unable to come to terms regarding the future British Grand Prix, causing the race to be dropped from the 2005 season calendar. Since then similar disagreements have lead to the cancellations (though all temporary) of various racing events, including the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
Safety has also been an issue with Bernie’s haters – Ecclestone saw 14 of 20 cars refuse to race in the 2005 United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The seven teams refusing to participate stating concerns over the safety of their Michelin tires, requested rule changes and/or a change to the track configuration. Despite a series of meetings between Ecclestone, Max Mosley, and the team principals, no compromise was reached by race time, and Ecclestone became an object of the public’s frustration at the resultant six-car race.
Earlier this year in Singapore, the F1 chief executive said he and the FIA were “happy” with the Yeongam circuit, despite it not yet passing its final inspection that was originally due to take place weeks ago. “It’s not good. It should have been inspected maybe six weeks ago,” Ecclestone told BBC pundit Eddie Jordan during an interview on Sunday.
“It was inspected but it wasn’t passed,” he added. Ecclestone admitted that delaying the inspection so late – with it now set to take place after the forthcoming Japanese Grand Prix – was unusual for a new circuit.
Ecclestone’s Personal Life & Effect on Formula One
In 1997, Ecclestone was involved in political controversy over the Labour Party’s policy on tobacco sponsorship.
The political organization had pledged to ban tobacco advertising ahead of its 1997 General Election victory, supporting a proposed European Union Directive banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship.
At this time all leading Formula One Teams carried significant branding from major tobacco brands. The Labour Party’s stance on banning tobacco advertising was reinforced following the election.
In February 2000, he said that women would never excel in Formula One, stating “she would have to be a woman who was blowing away the boys. … What I would really like to see happen is to find the right girl, perhaps a black girl with super looks, preferably Jewish or Muslim, who speaks Spanish.”
On Friday, 17 June 2005, Ecclestone made American headlines with his reply to a question about Danica Patrick’s fourth-place finish at the Indianapolis 500, during an interview with Indianapolis television station WRTV: “She did a good job, didn’t she? Super. Didn’t think she’d be able to make it like that. You know, I’ve got one of these wonderful ideas that women should be all dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances.”
In a Times interview published in July 2009, Ecclestone said “terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people able to get things done.” According to Ecclestone: “If you have a look at a democracy it hasn’t done a lot of good for many countries — including this one”. He also said that his friend of 40 years Max Mosley, the son of British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, “would do a super job” as Prime Minister and added “I don’t think his background would be a problem.”
This followed a widely publicized F1 scandal where Mosley was videotaped with several dominatrices dressed as Nazi soldiers.
Why Ecclestone is Good for F1
Bernie Ecclestone might be good, for all the trouble he causes, as a way of drawing attention towards F1. There is an old advertising saying, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Formula One might be one of the best known sports across the globe, but the biggest market has yet to really grab attention – The United States. F1 ranks up with Soccer in The States. But when Ecclestone speaks, he sometimes causes trouble, and that trouble gets him onto the news and in website headlines. You won’t head F1 results on the evening news, but you will hear about Bernie and Max Mosley getting spanked by Nazi sex-workers. Causing a little controversy is great for F1 in the end, and Ecclestone excels at it – love him or hate him.
Source: World Car Fans | Wikipedia
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