The extraordinary Bernie Ecclestone – Martin Whitmarsh
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh hailed the CEO of the FIA Bernie Ecclestone as an “extra-ordinary individual” as the brain behind F1 approached his 80th birthday this past Tuesday.
Ecclestone has turned F1 into a multi-billion dollar business and it seems that he has no desire to slow down as he said that he wants to continue his journey with the sport for another 10 years.
“He's an extraordinary individual, when you think of an 80-year-old who is still rushing around in the way he is and the energy that he has. He intends to be here in 10 years' time because this is his life, isn't it?”, Whitmarsh told
Reuters.
Whitmarsh believes that Bernie will stay in Formula 1 until or unless any force of nature pulls him away from it. So it is quite clear that it is a bit like some performers, who just cannot control themselves and keep performing.
With no one to fill his space, Whitmarsh added that his situation is unlikely to change in the near future.
“Those of us who are still around, if we manage to survive, when he finally is no longer around will have to find a way to bring it together. But he is not capable of choosing, grooming or trusting a successor, frankly”, he added.
FIA president and former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt replaced Ecclestone’s good friend Max Mosley as president of FIA. He thanked Ecclestone as he believes that the future of Formula 1 is in safe hands.
"I must say it is extraordinary to see this guy, days before he is to be 80, how motivated, how switched on he can be. I really wish to be in the same situation at his age. It's fascinating. Bernie is a very smart guy,” said the president of FIA.
He stated that Bernie sold his own company that was a private equity firm by the name of CVC and in fact the responsibility of Formula 1 was more to CVC than to Bernie.
Jean Todt is sure that Bernie will be a big contributor for the sport. However, he is not the right guy in the sense that he has set the bar so high for his position, that there is no possible successor who can take his position.
Bernie loves doing his job and Jean Todt believes that Formula 1 has a very strong future since it is monitored and evolved by the help of people like Bernie Ecclestone.
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