Monday, 22 June 2009 17:22
Bernie Ecclestone says he is determined to do whatever it takes to keep Formula 1 intact as the FIA versus FOTA row continues to escalate.
With the FOTA teams insisting they are pressing on with plans to launch a breakaway series, while the FIA both prepares to launch legal action against them and simultaneously holds out an apparent olive branch for negotiations to resume, the sport's future remains riddled with uncertainty.
Highlighted by many as a potential peacemaker, Ecclestone said he would do his utmost to defuse the crisis.
“I have given 35 years of my life and more to Formula 1,” he told The Times.
“My marriage broke up because of Formula 1, so I am sure as hell not going to let things disintegrate over what is, in the end, basically nothing.”
Ecclestone had previously suggested that he would respond aggressively if any rival series tried to muscle in on the television and circuit contracts his Formula One Management organisation had secured for the FIA world championship, while during the Silverstone weekend he was evasive whenever questioned about how he might resolve the row.
But the F1 ringmaster agreed with Max Mosley's suggestion that there was now very little separating the warring sides' positions.
“If you analyse the problems, there aren't any that can't be easily solved,” said Ecclestone.
While the teams' complaints have mainly centred on the FIA's proposed 2010 rules and ongoing governance issues, they have also indicated that they want changes to the way F1's revenue is distributed – and particularly for Ecclestone and F1's owner CVC to pass on a larger share to the teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment