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Bernie Ecclestone is taking flak amid F1's tumultuous beginning to another world championship season. World champion Sebastian Vettel, a traditional ally of the F1 supremo, questioned the decision to shake up the qualifying format mere days before the circus heads for Australia, agreeing it demonstrates a lack of "leadership".
The Ferrari driver is not alone. Mercedes president Dieter Zetsche hit out at Ecclestone's recent characterisation of F1 as a sport that is not worth spending money on a ticket. "I don't understand how someone who is not only the CEO but partial owner of that product talks that way about this product," he said. "At the Geneva motor show I was not going on the stage to say I would never drive a Mercedes and customers should better not do it," Zetsche added.
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There are those who argue that while Ecclestone deserves the credit for building the F1 brand over the past decades, the sport might now need a new era. "I think he has done a fantastic job for the sport since he came in," former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo told Motor Sport Magazine. "But it's not reasonable to ask a man of his age to completely change his mentality. And there needs to be a change in mentality, in many areas," he insisted.
And while 85-year-old Ecclestone often criticises Jean Todt's low-profile and hands-off approach to F1, the FIA president also wonders if the sport needs to turn a corner. When asked about Ecclestone's latest criticisms, Todt told Auto Bild: "My style is to speak directly with him. I like Bernie. He is an extraordinary man. He is 85, and I have just had my 70th birthday, yet he still leads formula one with a great passion. But he also has his own style," the Frenchman added.
Todt said he thinks F1 is still "a great sport, which makes a great contribution to the automotive industry. But we are seeing a new and different movie to before. Soon there will be cars that drive autonomously. Will a 12-year-old still sit for two hours to watch cars race? I think we need to communicate F1 better to the people," he said. (GMM)
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C. Sainz jr
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Replies (2)
Login to replykhasmir
Posts: 893
The time for change is long overdue...
mclarenfan1968
Posts: 1,027
This old fart needs to die already