The question now is who will take his place at Mercedes?? Maybe Verstappen?
BGOL Ongoing Formula One Thread: 2025 Season
- Thread starter SIDESHOW
- Start date
Knowing how cacs are he probably thinks by retiring then Hamilton never has the chance to take the title from him
Ricciardo maybe
Maybe..... or what about Vettel? He's a damn good driver and German, the team will keep their full name brand especially if he becomes champion.... We saw how much they were pushing for Rosberg to win in order to keep it all German.
http://time.com/lewis-hamilton-formula-one/
Lewis Hamilton, the greatest race-car driver of this generation, has big plans for 2017: Recapture a Formula One title he lost under bitter circumstances. And help his sport catch fire in America
Piercing screams swallow up Lewis Hamilton as he enters an amphitheater at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack in Austin on a warm evening in late October. Hundreds of fans have been waiting for hours, pressed against a gate, in hopes of getting something, anything, autographed by the fastest driver on the planet. They shove hats, programs, posters, even cell phones in his direction. One clever devotee places a cap on the tip of his selfie stick, like bait on a rod, and stretches it over the throng. Another name-drops Hamilton’s pet bulldog: “Sign this for Coco!” he shouts. “I love your f-cking dog! You’re my f-cking hero!” Hamilton smiles and signs the hat. Fittingly, Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” blares over the loudspeakers. Here, the British-born race-car driver is as big as a pop star.
More than 400 million people around the globe watch Formula One races on TV, transfixed by the high-tech cars that resemble sleek fighter jets shooting across the track at more than 200 m.p.h. And Hamilton is the sport’s biggest name, a three-time champ with a raft of famous friends who is swarmed by fans at races from Australia to Azerbaijan, from Monaco to Malaysia.
In the U.S., however, such recognition is rare. Formula One comprises 11 teams with two drivers each, backed by brands like Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari. Over some 20 races spread across eight months and five continents, the teams fight for the Constructors’ championship, while each driver vies for the individual title. America hosts just one race per year, the fall Grand Prix in Texas, and Formula One lags in popularity behind homegrown racing circuits like NASCAR, not to mention the NFL, NBA and many other pro and college sports. “So many people I meet in America ask me, ‘What’s Formula One?’” Hamilton says before walking out to his autograph session a day before the Austin race. “What, do you live in a shoe box? Haven’t you at least heard of it?”
For years the American market has vexed Formula One, even as it grew into one of the most popular sports elsewhere in the world. The races are often televised at odd hours and rarely on broadcast networks, making it particularly tough to lure casual viewers. But that may be changing. In September, Liberty Media, the U.S.-based conglomerate controlled by billionaire John Malone, bought Formula One in a deal valued at $8 billion. The purchase has stoked optimism that a domestic ownership group with a range of technology and entertainment businesses in its portfolio will figure out how to make Formula One work in the States. “The U.S. market is important,” says Chase Carey, the former Rupert Murdoch lieutenant whom Liberty installed as Formula One’s new chairman in September. “It’s an area of opportunity for us.”
Hamilton will be critical to the effort. The son of mixed-race parents, he became the first black driver in Formula One after growing up in public housing north of London, rather than being groomed in the gilded garages that typically breed championship drivers. Since winning his first title in 2008 at just 23, Hamilton has become as much of a celebrity off the track, a Fashion Week regular whose Instagram feed is filled with shots of him hanging out with Rihanna and Justin Bieber. He’s recorded hip-hop songs and had a role in the latest Call of Duty. “He’s an ambassador for Formula One,” says Christian Horner, head of the rival Red Bull Racing Team. “He takes it to places where you wouldn’t normally see it, particularly in the U.S.”
For an ambassador, Hamilton is not exactly known for diplomacy. The 2016 season played out as a high-stakes rivalry between Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, with Hamilton repeatedly citing engine trouble for races he lost. On Nov. 27, in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton defied team orders, slowing the pace in an attempt to thwart Rosberg and keep his own title hopes alive. Hamilton won the race, but Rosberg still beat him out for the world championship––and then announced his surprise retirement. The hyper-competitive Hamilton was not a model of grace in defeat. “Lewis is Marmite,” says Horner. “People either love him or hate him.”
The loss is fuel for Hamilton, who wants to reclaim a world title in 2017 that he feels he lost in spite of his driving. “It’s been quite a painful couple of weeks,” he tells TIME in a December telephone interview from his home in Monaco. “This is really a time of year when you’re turning, trying to leave the negative behind and take the positive forward. But of course, it will build. The yearning for next year will build.”
Hamilton’s path to the top of auto racing began at age 6, when he started entering––and dominating––remote-control-car races on weekends. His talent landed him on the British children’s show Blue Peter, where he won a race against the host and a bunch of bigger kids. (A YouTube clip shows him raising a tiny, triumphant right arm in victory.) He quickly graduated to go-karts. Hamilton says that the first time he puttered around in a kart, he picked up the braking technique––hit them late around the corners to maximize speed––that he still uses today. “I remember that day,” he recalls, “feeling vrrrrrrrrrrrrm.”
Hamilton’s parents split when he was 2. His father Anthony managed his racing career while holding down multiple jobs. They stood out in the U.K.’s all-white karting scene. “We were the scruffy black family,” says Hamilton, whose paternal grandparents are from Grenada. “We had the sh-t equipment, sh-t car and a sh-t trailer.”
Still, Hamilton kept winning, roiling others on the youth racing circuit. “I had parents come up to me and say, ‘You’re not good enough, you should probably quit,’” says Hamilton. “But I just beat your son. What are you talking about?” He recalls racist taunts at the track and says he was picked on at school, where he was one of a handful of black children.
About 5 ft. 9 in. and 150 lb. today, Hamilton was never imposing. But at one point, he decided it was time to fight back. “I remember being in the back of the car with my dad. I took my seat belt off, and was like, ‘Can I do karate?’” Hamilton says. “I was 6 years old. I was being bullied and hated it. So I went and did karate and learned how to defend myself.”
At an auto-sports award show in 1995, the 10-year-old Hamilton met Ron Dennis, head of the McLaren racing team, and told him that he wanted to race one of his cars one day. Dennis signed him to McLaren’s young-drivers program, and he flourished. By the age of 21 Hamilton had secured a spot in Formula One, where he turned in one of the greatest rookie seasons ever, losing the championship by a single point.
Hamilton’s instincts and tenacity were evident from the start. Otmar Szafnauer, chief operating officer for the Sahara Force India racing team, recalls watching Hamilton tail McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso, the defending two-time world champ, at the street race in Monaco, whose narrow course makes passing especially difficult. Hamilton finished second behind Alonso, but not before applying heavy pressure. “Someone else in that same situation would say, ‘I have no chance at passing here—it’s Monaco, I’m a rookie, he’s the world champ—just take your second place,’” says Szafnauer. “Not Lewis. That’s what makes him special.”
He won the title in 2008. Two years later, after finishing fifth, Hamilton fired his father as his manager. “It was a pivotal moment, and still the toughest thing I’ve really ever gone through,” he says. “Growing up so close to someone and looking up to someone, and having them move heaven and earth for you every single day, and one day you say, ‘I don’t want you to be a part of it anymore.’”
The following two seasons were rough, with Hamilton matching his career-worst fifth-place finish in 2011. But he says the move was worth the personal fallout. “It was necessary and a very positive thing in terms of moving forward,” Hamilton says. “I’m almost 32 now. I’m not squandering my money. I don’t do drugs. I still have the values on which I was raised.” He switched teams, from McLaren to Mercedes, for the 2013 season before taking the ’14 and ’15 world titles and finishing a close second this season. His net worth, meanwhile, is estimated to be more than $200 million. But the damage remains. Hamilton calls his current relationship with his father “still a work in progress.”
The brash confidence that has enabled Hamilton’s heroics on the track has rubbed many people the wrong way. “There are so many haters, it’s kind of crazy,” says Lindsey Vonn,an Olympic champion skier and a close friend. “When I first met him, I had heard the rumors that he was really arrogant. He’s not even remotely arrogant.” Vonn was part of a small group of boldface pals—including tennis icon Venus Williams, broadcaster Gayle King, actor Christoph Waltz and NASCAR champ Jeff Gordon—who were on hand at the race in Austin. Hamilton often hopscotches the globe between races, appearing at exclusive events with his famous friends. Though he is single now, his longtime relationship with pop star Nicole Scherzinger provided a steady stream of tabloid fodder.
The hobnobbing has riled some members of Formula One’s old guard. “If he was at McLaren,” Dennis, his former boss and mentor, said in 2015, “he wouldn’t be behaving the way he is, because he wouldn’t be allowed to.” Hamilton’s response is the equivalent of pointing to the scoreboard: three titles and 10 race wins this season, including the last four of the year. Besides, he says, his interests in music and fashion prevent him from burning out on the track. “There’s very little that can distract me, really,” Hamilton says. “I’m very much a person of energy, and when you meet someone you naturally feel an energy, good or bad, you know?”
His current boss has no objections. “People out there try to put other people into boxes,” says Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. “‘This is how you should be, this is how you should behave, this is how you should concentrate on this sport.’ It’s all wrong. If it works for Lewis to fly around the world and go from one fashion show to another, hang out with his friends and do a gig, if that works fine, we should just accept it. We’re much too judgmental.”
From his perch in his company’s swank luxury suite, Heineken marketing executive Gianluca Di Tondo waves to the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders entertaining the crowd before the Austin race. Fighter jets fly over. The University of Texas marching band blares its horns. Di Tondo is betting on this sort of Americana to turbocharge Formula One here. In June, Heineken became a global partner of the circuit, joining brands like Rolex and Emirates. “We are emotionally very attached to this market,” Di Tondo says of the U.S. The pitch is much different here from in Europe, where even nonfans have at least a passing familiarity with the top drivers. “Americans either love it or don’t give a sh-t,” says Di Tondo. Looking out onto a grass hill overlooking the track, he sees room to grow. “That’s where we need the second-tier fans.”
Since Hamilton’s rookie season in 2007, Formula One’s annual global revenue has risen 53%, to $1.83 billion as of July 31, 2016. North and South America combined account for only 10.6% of the haul. But there are signs of growth. Races broadcast on NBCN, a cable sports network, averaged 429,000 viewers this season, the most in 21 years for a single U.S. cable channel showing Formula One. The Austin race, which debuted in 2012, set an attendance record in 2016: almost 270,000 over three days. The number was surely inflated by a Taylor Swift show at the track the night before the race and an Usher concert after––but many, including Hamilton, think that’s just what Formula One needs.
“The way Formula One is run is not good enough at the moment,” Hamilton says. “The Super Bowl, the events Americans do, the show they put on is so much, so much better. So if you were to mix in a little bit of that template through there, I think we’d be more inviting to the fans.”
Expect Liberty to energize the American efforts. “Given how small Formula One is in the States, it’s a low bar to clear to have some sort of impact,” says Robert Routh, an equities analyst at FBN Securities. Liberty gets a profitable business––the circuit earned $318 million in operating income in 2015––while Formula One joins a company that can leverage existing assets to help it grow: Liberty’s QVC network can push Formula One merchandise; SiriusXM can provide Formula One programming; Live Nation can produce entertainment around Formula One events. “We have an enormous opportunity to take this sport to the next level,” says Carey, who helped launch Fox News and Fox Sports before becoming Formula One’s chairman. “In a world where there are more and more choices, there are fewer really distinguishing events.”
Carey sees the chance to brand Formula One as an upscale alternative to other racing circuits. “NASCAR is sort of T-shirts and beer,” he says. “This is the sport of stars and celebrity. It’s champagne.” If so, Hamilton is Dom Pérignon. “We need six of him,” says F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, the circuit’s 86-year-old grand poo-bah.
Hamilton calls his tumultuous 2016 season “one of the heaviest on my heart.” He suffered three engine failures, while the cars of his teammate Rosberg rode clean. And then there was the spiteful final race, in which the front-running Hamilton slowed the pace to let other cars catch up to Rosberg in the hopes they would knock him to fourth place––and allow Hamilton to win the championship. Rosberg salvaged second, and Hamilton was called out for going his own way. “Anarchy doesn’t work within any team or any company,” Mercedes’ Wolff said afterward.
Weeks later, Hamilton says he has no regrets, especially since he remains convinced that his title hopes were felled by his engine. “The team’s job is to provide both drivers with equal opportunity,” he says. “And unfortunately, I didn’t have equal opportunity, because I had failures on our side of the garage. The other side didn’t. So that puts more stress on the importance of myself sucking every ounce of opportunity. At the end, that’s all I could have done. I didn’t do anything dangerous. I didn’t put anyone in harm’s way. I’d do it again. You’re out there to fight.”
Hamilton says he wanted the three-peat “with every blood cell in my body.” After falling just short, he’s desperate to win in 2017. “I’m in a good head space,” he says. “I have a process that I need to take into next year. When I lost the championship, the motivation to want to take it back next year became twofold. I now have twice the desire.” The question is whether America will come along for the ride.
Nico Rosberg Is the Biggest Disappointment of 2016
To not stick around and defend your first championship is a betrayal of Formula 1.
http://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/6739/nico-rosberg-is-the-biggest-disappointment-of-2016
In December, Nico Rosberg, the 2016 F1 Champion, tweeted out a big, fatThanks! to his Mercedes AMG Petronas racing team for the hard work they put into helping him achieve his “childhood dream.” Now that he’s won his childhood dream, Rosberg, the son of F1 champion Keke, has decided to retire to Monaco.
Nobody likes a hater, but here goes: Nico Rosberg, the soft-handed Monagasque semi-royal born with a silver racecar in his mouth, hasn't just walked away from the sport—he's disgraced it by declining to defend a title bestowed upon him by a vastly superior car and, frankly, a whole lot of luck.
His reasons are a press conference laughline, reserved for disgraced politicians and deposed executives: the schedule is grueling; he wanted to spend more time with his family; etc.
I’ve been to a lot of F1 and NASCAR races. I’ve even followed drivers around behind the scenes, and traveled with them between races. It can be grueling. Every race week begins and ends with a long flight in the tight confines of a Gulfstream G550. Then there are tech meetings, mandatory press availabilities, sponsor meet-and-greets where you have to shake hands (gross!) with doughy car dealers in, say, Beijing or Texas. Add to that workouts for staying in racing shape, a rigorous diet in which you have to skip the pudding, and the distant sound of ravenous, autograph-demanding fans somewhere beyond the paddock gates.
Then you have to actually race the car, which is really, really hard.
How much can one guy take?
The truth is that Rosberg, has retired at the top of a game that was rigged in his favor from the day he started racing. He never would have earned it if it hadn’t been offered to him. He was a talented carting driver at a young age—competing against Lewis even then. He went on to race for his father’s Formula 3 Euro Series team, and then became the first driver to win the nascent GP2 championship in 2005. He steered his way onto the Williams F1 team and raced for six years in F1 before earning a GP victory in 2012—with Mercedes. Arguably, it’s not a bad career, but it’s not exceptional.
When Rosberg shocked everyone—including his loyal boss, Toto Wolff—and announced his retirement, I can understand why the hard-nosed old F1 codgers were so polite about it. But at the same time, it’s surprising that no one protested. They're the tough guys—Nigel Mansell, David Coulthard, Martin Brundle, David Hobbs—who spend their weekends taking potshots at Lewis Hamilton and ginning up excitement in a sport that has been mostly stripped of heroics (come on, this year’s winner quit!) and transformed mostly into a dazzling master class in advanced materials science and aerodynamics.
These pundits don’t have the guts to call out Rosberg for what he is: a semi-royal too spoiled grind it out, too coddled to stick around and protect a championship that was handed to him by Paddy Lowe and deep-pocketed Team Mercedes AMG Petronas. Paddy & Co. built a car so completely dominant that any F1 driver could have driven it to a podium finish just about every week. To not stick around and defend your first championship is a betrayal of the sport.
It’s telling that his dazzlingly talented teammate, Lewis Hamilton, ended up on the cover of Time last month. He’s the real face of F1 because he combines talent with an inexhaustible, you-gotta-kill-me-to-get-me-outta-the-cockpit need to race. That Hamiton lost to Rosberg in 2016 is because he had really shitty luck: his ERS system failed twice, his engine blew out once, failed once more, and his hydraulics shit the bed in Singapore. All told, the reliability issues probably cost Hamilton 40 points in the race to the Driver’s Championship. Rosberg beat him by 5 points.
Rosberg knows all this, and he’s getting out while the getting’s good. The chassis on the F1 cars will change significantly this coming year, which will place added emphasis on aerodynamics, and could chip away at Mercedes’ massive horsepower advantage. Red Bull, Ferrari and Renault are expected to come to the grid with much more competitive entries in '17. The cars will be bigger, faster, more difficult to drive and, according to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, "deploy much more G on the driver—like in the past."
There are great drivers in this sport: Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Fernando Alonso are hanging in there; Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are some of the most naturally gifted drivers to come along in a generation. And Valterie Bottas, the [likely] incoming Mercedes driver, will easily fill Rosberg's small shoes with his prodigious talents. We look forward to a Formula 1 season where the competitors want to win because they can’t imagine doing anything else.
To not stick around and defend your first championship is a betrayal of Formula 1.
http://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/6739/nico-rosberg-is-the-biggest-disappointment-of-2016
In December, Nico Rosberg, the 2016 F1 Champion, tweeted out a big, fatThanks! to his Mercedes AMG Petronas racing team for the hard work they put into helping him achieve his “childhood dream.” Now that he’s won his childhood dream, Rosberg, the son of F1 champion Keke, has decided to retire to Monaco.
Nobody likes a hater, but here goes: Nico Rosberg, the soft-handed Monagasque semi-royal born with a silver racecar in his mouth, hasn't just walked away from the sport—he's disgraced it by declining to defend a title bestowed upon him by a vastly superior car and, frankly, a whole lot of luck.
His reasons are a press conference laughline, reserved for disgraced politicians and deposed executives: the schedule is grueling; he wanted to spend more time with his family; etc.
I’ve been to a lot of F1 and NASCAR races. I’ve even followed drivers around behind the scenes, and traveled with them between races. It can be grueling. Every race week begins and ends with a long flight in the tight confines of a Gulfstream G550. Then there are tech meetings, mandatory press availabilities, sponsor meet-and-greets where you have to shake hands (gross!) with doughy car dealers in, say, Beijing or Texas. Add to that workouts for staying in racing shape, a rigorous diet in which you have to skip the pudding, and the distant sound of ravenous, autograph-demanding fans somewhere beyond the paddock gates.
Then you have to actually race the car, which is really, really hard.
How much can one guy take?
The truth is that Rosberg, has retired at the top of a game that was rigged in his favor from the day he started racing. He never would have earned it if it hadn’t been offered to him. He was a talented carting driver at a young age—competing against Lewis even then. He went on to race for his father’s Formula 3 Euro Series team, and then became the first driver to win the nascent GP2 championship in 2005. He steered his way onto the Williams F1 team and raced for six years in F1 before earning a GP victory in 2012—with Mercedes. Arguably, it’s not a bad career, but it’s not exceptional.
When Rosberg shocked everyone—including his loyal boss, Toto Wolff—and announced his retirement, I can understand why the hard-nosed old F1 codgers were so polite about it. But at the same time, it’s surprising that no one protested. They're the tough guys—Nigel Mansell, David Coulthard, Martin Brundle, David Hobbs—who spend their weekends taking potshots at Lewis Hamilton and ginning up excitement in a sport that has been mostly stripped of heroics (come on, this year’s winner quit!) and transformed mostly into a dazzling master class in advanced materials science and aerodynamics.
These pundits don’t have the guts to call out Rosberg for what he is: a semi-royal too spoiled grind it out, too coddled to stick around and protect a championship that was handed to him by Paddy Lowe and deep-pocketed Team Mercedes AMG Petronas. Paddy & Co. built a car so completely dominant that any F1 driver could have driven it to a podium finish just about every week. To not stick around and defend your first championship is a betrayal of the sport.
It’s telling that his dazzlingly talented teammate, Lewis Hamilton, ended up on the cover of Time last month. He’s the real face of F1 because he combines talent with an inexhaustible, you-gotta-kill-me-to-get-me-outta-the-cockpit need to race. That Hamiton lost to Rosberg in 2016 is because he had really shitty luck: his ERS system failed twice, his engine blew out once, failed once more, and his hydraulics shit the bed in Singapore. All told, the reliability issues probably cost Hamilton 40 points in the race to the Driver’s Championship. Rosberg beat him by 5 points.
Rosberg knows all this, and he’s getting out while the getting’s good. The chassis on the F1 cars will change significantly this coming year, which will place added emphasis on aerodynamics, and could chip away at Mercedes’ massive horsepower advantage. Red Bull, Ferrari and Renault are expected to come to the grid with much more competitive entries in '17. The cars will be bigger, faster, more difficult to drive and, according to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, "deploy much more G on the driver—like in the past."
There are great drivers in this sport: Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Fernando Alonso are hanging in there; Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are some of the most naturally gifted drivers to come along in a generation. And Valterie Bottas, the [likely] incoming Mercedes driver, will easily fill Rosberg's small shoes with his prodigious talents. We look forward to a Formula 1 season where the competitors want to win because they can’t imagine doing anything else.
Rosturd knew his number was up after this season, as the author pointed out those mechanical issue cost Hamilton the Championship and only lost by 5 points, good riddens. I wonder if any other race organization will allow Rosturd race, like in all sports the owners want franchise players and not some won and done.
Valtteri Bottas will be partnered with Lewis Hamilton for 2017
http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/38489054
http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/38489054
Pretty much a foregone conclusion after they skipped on Wherlein. Bottas should be pretty a lateral in reference to Nico. I don't think he has as much one lap pace as Nico, but his racecraft should be better.Valtteri Bottas will be partnered with Lewis Hamilton for 2017
http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/38489054
I think Bottas is faster over a lap, and is much better at passing. Before the last batch of regs when Merc was pretty much a mid field team, with an old Schummy to get sponsors, Nico was as average as they came. Not gonna hurt the team, but most certainly wasn't going to get any points the car wasn't capable of getting. Bottas first few seasons was on allot of radars as a future number 1. Ferrari even made ovatures, but Williams wanted too much money. Last year Williams sucked and he wasn't given a chance, but he can give Lewis more of a fair fight than Nico. But I doubt Merc is gonna let them fight for it on the track anymore.
Yeah, it's shame, but Merc might actually be fighting RB and possibly Ferrari on merit if they don't get the aero balance right in the beginning of this season. Should be good for the overall show. Gone be a wildcard year. I think the only consistent front runners will be Merc and RB though. FI will probably fall back some because he hey don't have the budget and Haas just said "fuck yall early pay" this season. Honda might get that engine to actually work, but I think their aero department is average. They could do shit with the Merc power units. I'm really curious to see what Paddy will do at Williams if they let him take the rains.
Bernie Ecclestone no longer F1 chief executive - statement
Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed he is no longer the chief executive of Formula One (F1) after almost 40 years in charge, it has been reported.
The motorsport veteran was quoted by German magazine Auto, Motor and Sport as saying - "I was deposed today.
"This is official, I do not run the company any more."
The news was yet to be officially confirmed by Mr Ecclestone or Liberty Media, which is expected to take control of the sport this week after snapping up shares from private equity firm CVC last year.
His position had been in doubt since the sale of the sport's commercial rights to Liberty - with Sky News reporting at the weekend that the new owners were preparing to oust 86-year old Ecclestone.
City Editor Mark Kleinman also revealed that Liberty was preparing a wider boardroom shake-up as it looked to make radical changes to the administration of F1.
Its plans include making F1 teams shareholders in the sport, expanding its commercial rights through new media and potentially changing the race structure to make it appeal to a younger fan base.
http://news.sky.com/story/bernie-ecclestone-no-longer-f1-chief-executive-statement-10740560
Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed he is no longer the chief executive of Formula One (F1) after almost 40 years in charge, it has been reported.
The motorsport veteran was quoted by German magazine Auto, Motor and Sport as saying - "I was deposed today.
"This is official, I do not run the company any more."
The news was yet to be officially confirmed by Mr Ecclestone or Liberty Media, which is expected to take control of the sport this week after snapping up shares from private equity firm CVC last year.
His position had been in doubt since the sale of the sport's commercial rights to Liberty - with Sky News reporting at the weekend that the new owners were preparing to oust 86-year old Ecclestone.
City Editor Mark Kleinman also revealed that Liberty was preparing a wider boardroom shake-up as it looked to make radical changes to the administration of F1.
Its plans include making F1 teams shareholders in the sport, expanding its commercial rights through new media and potentially changing the race structure to make it appeal to a younger fan base.
http://news.sky.com/story/bernie-ecclestone-no-longer-f1-chief-executive-statement-10740560
Bernie ain't leaving without a plan. If I were to make a guess he's going to trying establish an alternative series and try to pull some teams from F1. With the rumor being Liberty is going to sto Ferrari $100 million annual bonus, he might have some support if he does.
Bernie Ecclestone plotting stunning breakaway series to rival Formula One
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...series-rival-Formula-One-Liberty-Media-sacked
Ecclestone has been in charge of F1 in a number of different roles for nearly 40 years.
However, on Monday he was removed as chief executive and moved sideways into an advisory role by Liberty Media, the group who completed a £6billion takeover of the sport this week.
But Liberty do not believe Ecclestone will take the switch lying down and the 86-year-old is thought to be planning a breakaway series to rival F1 which would be up and running by 2019.
Last night Formula One journalist Peter Windsor tweeted: “The response today when an F1 luminary was asked privately how Mr E was doing: ‘He's setting-up a breakaway series’. Don't laugh.”
BBC Sport journalist Andrew Benson replied: “Interesting. Have also been told by a trusted source they expect Ecclestone to fight back v Liberty - with a breakaway series by 2019.”
Benson added this morning: “Hope these people predicting an Ecclestone breakaway are wrong. Splits are no good for anyone; would be pure vindictiveness.”
The diminutive F1 supremo was clearly unhappy with his removal when questioned earlier this week.
"I was deposed today," Ecclestone told German publication Auto Motor und Sport.
"I am simply gone. It's official.
"I am no longer the leader of the company.
"My position has been taken by Chase Carey."
Carey, a former 21st Century Fox executive, will head a three-man team featuring commercial director Sean Bratches and ex-Mercedes and Ferrari man Ross Brawn.
Together, they are planning to modernise F1 in order to resurrect its waning popularity.
“The problems are across the board,” Carey told The Telegraph.
“We’re not marketing the sport, we’re not enabling fans to connect with it on the platforms that are available today, our sponsorship relations are one-dimensional, the events feel old, the hospitality feels as if it’s at least 15 years old.
“There’s a transparency to what we are doing, there’s a context in which decisions are being made.
"It’s not a case of everybody playing a game of poker, trying to bluff each other.
"At the moment, it’s not the way it should be if you want a business to be run well.”
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...series-rival-Formula-One-Liberty-Media-sacked
Ecclestone has been in charge of F1 in a number of different roles for nearly 40 years.
However, on Monday he was removed as chief executive and moved sideways into an advisory role by Liberty Media, the group who completed a £6billion takeover of the sport this week.
But Liberty do not believe Ecclestone will take the switch lying down and the 86-year-old is thought to be planning a breakaway series to rival F1 which would be up and running by 2019.
Last night Formula One journalist Peter Windsor tweeted: “The response today when an F1 luminary was asked privately how Mr E was doing: ‘He's setting-up a breakaway series’. Don't laugh.”
BBC Sport journalist Andrew Benson replied: “Interesting. Have also been told by a trusted source they expect Ecclestone to fight back v Liberty - with a breakaway series by 2019.”
Benson added this morning: “Hope these people predicting an Ecclestone breakaway are wrong. Splits are no good for anyone; would be pure vindictiveness.”
The diminutive F1 supremo was clearly unhappy with his removal when questioned earlier this week.
"I was deposed today," Ecclestone told German publication Auto Motor und Sport.
"I am simply gone. It's official.
"I am no longer the leader of the company.
"My position has been taken by Chase Carey."
Carey, a former 21st Century Fox executive, will head a three-man team featuring commercial director Sean Bratches and ex-Mercedes and Ferrari man Ross Brawn.
Together, they are planning to modernise F1 in order to resurrect its waning popularity.
“The problems are across the board,” Carey told The Telegraph.
“We’re not marketing the sport, we’re not enabling fans to connect with it on the platforms that are available today, our sponsorship relations are one-dimensional, the events feel old, the hospitality feels as if it’s at least 15 years old.
“There’s a transparency to what we are doing, there’s a context in which decisions are being made.
"It’s not a case of everybody playing a game of poker, trying to bluff each other.
"At the moment, it’s not the way it should be if you want a business to be run well.”
Thank god there is no shark fin.
Mercedes W08
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