Bernie Ecclestone – the “Uncle Scrooge” of Formula 1
FIA’s CEO Bernie Ecclestone single handily took Formula 1 to the next level by coming up with new ideas day after day. Bernie has been a part of Formula 1 for more than 50 years. The British mastermind is currently 80 years old and it seems that he is just
getting started as he stated that he is not even thinking about retiring any time soon.
This season Bernie has been quite active but silly at the same time as he discussed some ideas that were brilliant while others were quite hilarious. The idea of returning back to the US was initiated by Bernie Ecclestone and after collaborating with Hermann
Tilke, the two came up with the idea of organizing a major event, something like a festival alongside the race but to pull that off, Indianapolis was not the best option.
Therefore, the two masterminds came up with the idea of building a new venue for this mega event and after a lot of discussions and debates; they finally decided to begin this project in Austin Texas which was later passed by the FIA. Hermann Architects
and Engineers have already started working on a track and according to some rumours; they are done with a rough design of the track.
Bernie also stated his plans of taking Formula 1 to Russia and that is not a bad idea either. Russia has a huge fan following for Formula 1 and it would prove to be phenomenal for the sports future.
However, despite these luminous ideas, Ecclestone has played his fair share of stupidity. The 80-year-old stated that Formula 1 will hold an Indian Grand Prix and it will take place in 2011. The idea is quite absurd as it is nearly impossible to pull off
a Formula 1 event especially in a country like India. Since India is a third world country with limited resources and finances, holding an event as extravagant event such as Formula 1 race seems a far cry from the blue. Bernie should have realized after the
Korean Grand Prix that pulling off a major event in just a year’s time is not possible for the developing nations.
The Korean Grand Prix, which was initially Bernie’s idea, was a great race without a shadow of a doubt. But watching a race take place in the middle of barren land was quite a shocker for most of the fans. A Formula 1 Grand Prix is not just a race nowadays.
In reality, it offers a 3-4 day festival with all sorts of events taking place. The Korean Grand Prix was nowhere near what a Formula 1 Grand Prix is supposed to be like and it was clearly the FIA’s fault as they rushed the event into the 2010 calendar even
though it was clearly not possible for them to pull it off.
On top of that, Bernie is thinking of organizing an African Grand Prix which will most likely take place in South Africa. However, putting in another major project in the queue for the FIA is not advisable at the moment. In fact, it might ruin the other
projects that the organization is currently involved in and as a result, they won’t be able to pull off either of these events.
Most importantly, supporting these projects financially is also a big problem and since the whole world is currently going through an economical crisis, now is not the right time for such major, expensive decisions.
Despite of these projects, Bernie is also thinking of bringing a 13th Formula 1 team to the grid. Handling 12 teams is already causing a lot of trouble for the organizers so bringing in another team would turn Formula 1 into a destruction derby
rather than racing.
It seems that Bernie’s age is taking the best of him and he should consider retiring rather than working all his life like Uncle Scrooge from duck tales.
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