Bernie Ecclestone barred from Grand Prix?

Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says that he isn’t welcome at Grands Prix anymore. He said that Liberty Media, the sport’s new owners don’t want him attending Grand Prix events in 2018. Ecclestone is still the ‘F1 chairman, But the new management prefers his absence. Bernie Ecclestone unwanted at any 2018 GP venue seems unheard of to the longtime F1 fans.

Bernie Ecclestone said, “I have the feeling that my successors do not want to see me on the track anymore. It is important that the teams market themselves, and that the promoters promote their event. If FOM competes as a third party, that’s only confusing. I would have scrapped this [hybrid] engine, it was a disaster from the date on which it was introduced. But two years ago I told the teams they could keep the damn engine if they increase the fuel flow and the fuel load.”

He is also critical of Liberty Media's proposals for engine development after 2020. He admitted that he didn’t like Liberty’s new approach of heavily in marketing the sport. Ecclestone’s sentiments on Liberty’s proposals have been earlier echoed by Scuderia Ferrari. Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne even threatened to pull the team out of F1 on multiple occasions. Ecclestone is of the opinion that Ferrari is serious about their threat.

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne

Bernie also said, “Sergio can live without Formula 1. He is only interested in the business. If Marchionne doesn’t like what he sees, he will stop. I’m afraid that Ferrari can live without F1, but not vice versa. The Ferrari against Mercedes duel mobilized the fans. [In the past] I actually apologized to the promoters. They paid for the old Formula 1 and all they got was Mercedes winning. Now, they’re getting value for money again. [Ferrari] was smart enough to look at the other teams and bring on board, good people.”