MOTORSPORT: F1 unwatchable, says its ringmaster

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says the sport that has been his business for half a century is such a poor spectacle now that he wouldn't pay to watch it.

Less than a month out from the start of this year's world championship in Melbourne, and with testing of the new cars starting in Barcelona tonight, Ecclestone admits F1 "is the worst it has ever been".

He wants change, and quickly – with a 'mixed grid' at Melbourne's Albert Park on March 20 that would have the fastest qualifiers starting in the middle of the field.

But, with such a radical development unlikely in a hurry, the 85-year-old ringmaster of what is supposed to be the world's premier form of motor racing told London's Daily Mail: "I wouldn't spend my money to take my family to watch a race. No way.

"What's the point when you pretty much know — and the bookmakers know, and they're not stupid — that Lewis Hamilton will probably put the car on pole and more likely than not win the race, and the other Mercedes will be on the podium?"
Ecclestone remains at F1's helm but private equity company CVC is the major owner of the sport and his control has diminished in recent years.

His bugbear now as he wants a return to noisier, more aggressive cars is that the two top teams, Mercedes and Ferrari, have what amounts to a veto on any new regulations after two years of 1.6-litre V6 hybrids that purists see as insipid, although there is a move to make them 25 per cent louder this season.

Ecclestone says that Mercedes (winner of 32 of the past 38 GPs) and Ferrari supplying the engines for eight of F1's 11 teams and holding enormous sway at the 26-member F1 Commission amounts to "what is commonly known as a cartel – and cartels are illegal".

"We are running something that is illegal. On top of all that it is anti-competitive," he said.

Of his radical "mixed grid" idea, Ecclestone said: "We need more competitive racing.

"I would keep qualifying as it is. The guy who is quickest would still have his number of poles recorded for history.

"But then he could start, say, 10th based on his pole and where he stands in the championship. We are looking at exactly how we could do it.

"The guy who is third fastest in qualifying would start, say, seventh or eighth.

"That is better than totally reversed grids (which have been considered before) because all you get with them is the man at the back getting past the slower guys at the start of the race.

"This way makes it competitive between guys of similar speed. It won't be easy to get past people.

"The big thing is that it would create debate. I would say, 'I think the pole man will win for this reason or that'. You say, 'No, I think so-and-so will win because ...'

"That's what we need. I don't know if we can get it through in time. We'll see."

Always controversial, Ecclestone told the Daily Mail that Russian leader Vladmir Putin "is    the guy who should run Europe".

He has previously spoken of his admiration for Hitler, doesn't like democracy and once said that women should all be dressed in white "like all the other domestic appliances".

Two years ago Ecclestone had a charge against him of bribing a banker dropped by paying US $100 million to German authorities.

He told the Daily Mail he had not visited stricken seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher since his skiing accident two years ago.

"That's the last thing I would want to do," he said.

"I hardly ever go to funerals. I like to remember people when they were alive and well.

"I hear mixed reports about Michael, but I only want to see him again when we can speak face-to-face and have a nice discussion."

Ecclestone is annoyed with Jean Todt, the former Ferrari team principal who succeeded long-time Ecclestone ally Max Mosley as head of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), which governs most of world motorsport apart from its broader role.
Ecclestone said the FIA's world motorsport council had given him and Todt the imprimatur to do whatever was needed to improve the F1 spectacle but that the Frenchman was afraid to act because of possible legal action.

"Jean, unfortunately, has become a diplomat," Ecclestone said of Todt, who has been appointed the United Nations secretary-general's special envoy for road safety.

"He wants everyone to be happy.

"It's a nice way for a [FIA] president to think, but it doesn't work like that.

"You can't make everyone happy."

Ecclestone claimed that he wanted "to do what is best for F1" but that "most of the participants are only thinking about what's good for them in the short term".

"Long term for most of those people is two or three races," he said.

Asked by the Daily Mail's Jonathan McEvoy how he might solve F1's problems with the existing rules intended to largely remain until 2019, Ecclestone said: "I have something in mind.

"I don't get mad. I get even.

"I've had to take people out and show them a few graves. There's still room there."