JUNE 16, 2008

Ecclestone on the attack again

Last week Bernie Ecclestone seemed to be relatively conciliatory towards the FIA, but this week he is back on the attack again, banging on the drum of a breakaway Formula 1 series.

"What the FIA doesnt have, which is the most important thing for them, is an agreement with the teams which they would have with a Concorde Agreement," Ecclestone told The Times. "The teams can do what they like. At the moment what we are trying to do, to keep sponsors happy, is say we cant break away, but it could well be that that will happen. There is no agreement between the teams and the FIA. There is a commercial agreement that has been signed by the teams and FOM, so the teams can do what they like."

Ecclestone went on to say that Mosley cannot be involved in the percentages of the profits that go to the teams.

"Max has nothing to do with finance," he told the newspaper. "The FIA has a clear, clear, clear agreement and signed agreement with the European Commission that they are the regulators of the sport. They are not anything to do with money. If Max comes back and says we should give more money to teams, I will tell him to mind his own bloody business."

Be that as it may, Mosley does have the right to veto a change of ownership if the FIA is not happy with a new commercial rights holder.

Ecclestone says that F1 cannot make any decisions at the moment.

"People dont know whats going on," he said.. "If you are a big, big organisation, you dont know what decisions to take. I am responsible to our shareholders, the teams and the manufacturers, who have an awful lot of money invested. Max is responsible to the people in wherever who have got no money invested and nor has the FIA got money invested - all theyve got is money that comes from Formula 1. If there was no Formula 1, the FIA would be in serious trouble."

Ecclestone has also suggested to the newspaper that Jewish businessmen with an involvement in F1 do not want to be associated to the FIA President because of allegations that he was involved in a Nazi-themed orgy. Mosley is taking legal action in France over the suggestion that there were Nazi connotations in his activities.

"The Jewish community controls an awful lot of the finance which comes into Formula 1, directly or indirectly," Ecclestone says. "They say the FIA shouldnt let somebody like Max represent them."