Bernie Strikes Again?

I see that Paul Walsh (a boss at Diagio) who was being touted as the next boss at CVC and therefore boss at F1 has turned down the job. He was supposedly keen to take on the job and 'rein Ecclestone in' but after a meeting with Ecclestone last Thursday he has suddenly withdrawn his interest in the job. How much did that cost BE I wonder?

Might not have cost him anything...he may have just had to pull a few strings.

Looks like he did have a hand in it though, as Bernie apparently wants chief legal officer Sasha Woodward-Hill to succeed him, calling her "a safe pair of hands".

Paul Walsh out of running to become F1 chairman

More likely he wants his choice in there - a choice that he can manipulate and use merely as a puppet and will allow him to carry on doing as he pleases as F1 goes down the pan.

Yeah, like it's been going into oblivion during his whole tenure.

For Gods sake, any chance of you allowing any facts to get into your thinking?

And any chance of you opening your eyes? Mind you it would be hard to see anything from inside BE's backside.

The sport is now completely global. Circuits around the World fall over themselves to host races and TV companies fight to screen the races.

Someone needs to tell these people they are all deluded because obviously it has gone down the pan.

The sport has always been global with or without BE. Sure it began as largrly European-based as that was the basic core of all competing teams. By the late 1960s, well before BE got involved the sport was beginning to spread out into the USA, Mexico and then South Africa and Japan if memory serves.

I have no qualms whatsoever if people wish to laud BE for what he does for F1 - fair enough if that is your belief but I don't agree to the scale you would say. But please lets not argue the point he reeks of corruption. He has been in more court cases than anyone in his position ever should be and makes Sepp Blatter look like an angel and that is saying something. Even close allies of his in the recent past are growing restless and are calling for him to stand down. I know that won't happen though purely because he is like the mafia in that he is on to such a good money-making racket he doesn't want to let go even though his bank balance is already astronomical. Still his time will come in the next five to ten years hence the other topic I set up.

CaledonianCraig wrote:More likely he wants his choice in there - a choice that he can manipulate and use merely as a puppet and will allow him to carry on doing as he pleases as F1 goes down the pan.

It's rare I strongly disagree with you CC (even less than I ever agree with bogbrush or agree more than BB more than you :-)) but I do wonder what you mean by "as F1 goes down the pan"

Anyone who can can do what Bernie has done for the sport is fine by me. If he was so bad, none of the big players would be anywhere near F1

CaledonianCraig wrote:and makes Sepp Blatter look like an angel and that is saying something.

But they are totally different roles, CC

It's very naive to compare the two

Would I want Bernie as head of FIFA relying on him to have a fair process for the various footie competitions. Of course not!!

Would Blatter have enough ability to do the necessary 'dirty' dealings to keep F1 growing as a global sport? Probably!!

Do you miss Magny Cours or San Marino? I can't think of many that do. Why one earth should France, effectively have two events, but do little for the sport - in terms of participation? He got rid of them, because there were loads of other countries begging him to give them a chance. And look at the enthusiasm at these new venues - in comparison to these two

Silverstone needed that kick up the backside and threat of loss, to become the great event it is now. We didn't like it, but it was 100% valid


It's great to have nice people out there that we can relate to and think it'd be great to have a drink, but just like in the real world of business, people like Bernie etc are vital for success

banbrotam wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:and makes Sepp Blatter look like an angel and that is saying something.

But they are totally different roles, CC  

It's very naive to compare the two

Would I want Bernie as head of FIFA relying on him to have a fair process for the various footie competitions. Of course not!!

Would Blatter have enough ability to do the necessary 'dirty' dealings to keep F1 growing as a global sport? Probably!!

Do you miss Magny Cours or San Marino? I can't think of many that do. Why one earth should France, effectively have two events, but do little for the sport - in terms of participation? He got rid of them, because there were loads of other countries begging him to give them a chance. And look at the enthusiasm at these new venues - in comparison to these two

Silverstone needed that kick up the backside and threat of loss, to become the great event it is now. We didn't like it, but it was 100% valid


It's great to have nice people out there that we can relate to and think it'd be great to have a drink, but just like in the real world of business, people like Bernie etc are vital for success

I wasn't making a comparison between the two though just pointing out one is even more corrupt than the other. As for the belief that you need nasty people to get the job done I say - nonsense. FIFA (pre-Blatter years) was run very well for decades without rank corruption by people such as Jaio Havalenge and we have had many many sports run in motorsports alone with great success without a corrupt figure at the helm so I totally disagree that such a person is necessary or even wanted. As for 'going down the pan' well just look at the dwindling teams, the lack of competitive seasons over the past twenty or so years, the in-fighting with breakaways threatened, the lunatic ideas muted by BE some of which got passed (double points) then promptly axed and the decidedly dodgy dealings dragging the sport through the mud. That is what I mean by going down the pan.

Infighting and threatened breakaways?

Man, read some history of this sport. 'Twas ever thus!

If you can't recall the teams threatening to create their own championship only seven years ago let me remind you:-

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jun/04/max-mosley-budget-cap-formula-one

That would also qualify as infighting would it not as would teams such as Sauber, Force India and Lotus furious with the way funds are distributed as well. Yes there have been threatened breakaways before in the 1980s and 70s I believe but those running the sport then are no longer involved or fell on their swords because of the unrest whereas BE just goes on and on and on and ........ I wonder what the next hare-brained scheme is? Double points last year - FAILURE. Turbo engines he pushed through - now he wants them changed because he hates the noise and to hell with the reason they were brought in - to cut costs.

Don't you understand "Twas ever thus?"? It means this sort of thing has always been going on. Do what's the point of trying to "remind" me people do it okay?

Cherry picking mistakes is just lame. Let's consider shaking up complacent circuits, bringing the sport the greatest geographical reach ever, ...... Still, a daft double points idea in one year trumps all that I guess.

Of course I understood hence my references to 80s and 70s so I am not sure what you are ranting about. And no it isn't cherry picking. I dropped in a couple of big errors he has made and lets not forget other ones he himself had admitted to like offering millions of pounds to pay-off someone's silence and admitting the current financial issues in F1 are probably his fault. Also you cherry picked by avoiding the turbo engine fiasco. He wanted them brought in to cut costs and now because he hates their noise he wants them changed? WTF? Lets look at his other truly potty ideas such as sprinklers dotted around the circuit to create artificial wet races or bringing in a medal system to replace the points system which he felt would ensure that the driver winning most races would be rewarded as world champion yet he then brings in double points last year that could very well brought about the exact opposite with the driver winning fewer races becoming world champion. And then there was the comments he made two or three years ago claiming he wanted more new teams in the sport and then not more than a year later throttled funding and financial rewards to the new teams even more hence killing two of those teams off. You just couldn't make it up.

The mistake he admitted was settling the case.

The rest is nonsense - change always has rough consequences but the result is that you find yourself through to a better place. The engines secured the lasting support of the big manufacturers - they'd have been gone otherwise - and it's fine to challenge those teams to alter the engines. BE's "way" has always been to make threats disguised as stray comments - the engine producers are desperate to stay in F1 with engines as now made and they'll make the accommodations for it to stay that way.
As for failed teams, well tough. That's evolution, and they'll be replaced in time, probably by more manufacturers.

I think the difficulty you have with him stems largely from the way people like him operate. He is opaque, imaginative, secretive and duplicitous. This is how people at that level work, it's what separates such people from their highly intelligent, ambitious, competitors. You seem to want a capable administrator who says nice things and behaves in a predictable way. Such a character would have failed miserably decades ago.

Look at someone like Branson; he behaves the same way but attends to PR so much more - but be in no doubt that the underlying characteristics are the same.

I run a pretty large business and while I wish I could match his achievements, I know that to do for for decades requires an awful lot more than straight line thinking. It's pretty obvious that unless you can think differently from other people you'll get swallowed up by your numerous similar thinking competitors.

bogbrush wrote:

I think the difficulty you have with him stems largely from the way people like him operate. He is opaque, imaginative, secretive and duplicitous. This is how people at that level work, it's what separates such people from their highly intelligent, ambitious, competitors. You seem to want a capable administrator who says nice things and behaves in a predictable way. Such a character would have failed miserably decades ago.

Probably correct as in my dislike of him but I do not buy the tosh that his way he does business is the correct and only way. Look at the success of say the Superbikes Series or MotoGP - run without fuss and corruption, globally successful and no loony ideas flung in to boot. Call me what you like but I do not like to see bullies and blackmailers benefited in this world. As for teams failing and going bust being tough fair enough but when BE admits himself to being at fault for their demise it says he has made errors and their demise could and should have been prevented. As for more manufacturers coming in? Well it won't be one of the biggest in the world the VW Group as their chairman refuses to enter the sport with BE in charge.

I think this thread has well run it's course and request it now be locked by the mods.