MARCH 8, 2003

Bernie and the automobile manufacturers

Bernie Ecclestone is fed up with people destabilising Formula 1 and has told The Financial Times newspaper in London that if it goes on much more he will take legal action to stop those concerned. Ecclestone said that "writs will fall like autumn leaves" unless the disruption stops because it is costing the sport a lot of money. Ecclestone said that all existing teams are bound by the Concorde Agreement until December 31 2007 and that they should honour the contract and not complain about it.

The team bosses who have made the most noise about the Concorde Agreement are Ron Dennis and Frank Williams who complain that the teams get only 23% of the income generated by the sport. They say that they know that they signed the Concorde Agreement and that they intend to stick to it without complaints but argue that teams need to get a better deal in the future. The Grand Prix World Championship says it will give teams more money.

"The real issue," says Ron Dennis, "is not how we share the 23% but increasing that revenue share so that there is more to go around. The simple fact is that the European professional footballers' association enjoys 75% of their revenues."