Ecclestone doesn’t need the Italian Grand Prix
Bernie Ecclestone insists that F1 would survive the loss of Italy from the calendar.
“Monza has got a contract for this year so it is going to go ahead. Next year is the question mark,” he told the Mail on Sunday.
“I don’t think we have to have an Italian Grand Prix,” he added. “Somebody once told me a funny thing that you couldn’t have Formula 1 without a race in France. But we do.”
Ecclestone admits he is still eyeing a race in the capital of bling, Las Vegas.
“Vegas would be super,” he says “. They have a contract. I think the trouble is the pen. The organiser hasn’t got a pen.”
This at a time the United States Grand Prix, in its latest guise, has escaped extinction by the skin of its teeth.
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Ricciardo: The track does suit us
Daniel Ricciardo is looking forward to the Bahrain Grand Prix and hopes to have another good result for Red Bull Racing.
“I feel I’ve always had good results at this track, and there are good places for overtaking. Since it’s been a night race it’s become a lot more exciting. The tyres last a bit longer and you can push a bit harder throughout the race so it’s been a good challenge the last few years and a place I’ve always enjoyed.
“There’s not really one standout corner that’s like ‘woah’ but it’s all pretty cool and the middle sector is quite fun. Night races are fun, for whatever reason it feels like you go a bit faster at night, so it’s exciting. If every race was a night race it wouldn’t have that same atmosphere so it’s cool that we have a few across the year.
“The track is good for overtaking, the last corner flows quite well and if you can get close for DRS you can get a good run into Turn 1. If you don’t get it into Turn 1, then there’s Turn 4 or the middle sectors where it’s easy to make mistakes. There’s probably four places you can pass on the track which is pretty good. The track does suit us, the last couple of years we’ve had a pretty good result, so hopefully we can continue that this year as well.”
Hamilton defends his Social Media use
The Mercedes driver attracted the attention of New Zealand police prior to the season’s curtain-raiser for apparently taking images of himself while riding a Harley-Davidson on the motorway.
The law bans the use of handheld devices while in charge of a vehicle, but Hamilton was let off after investigations into the footage proved inconclusive.
Hamilton maintains that providing his followers with an insight into his jet-set lifestyle should be encouraged, saying: ‘I like social media and I’ve got a great following.
‘I’ve got some incredible fans that follow me from all over the world and come to the races, but what they don’t get to see from a picture you take with video, you can now show the stuff you’re doing instantly.
‘If I took a video now, then edited it and wrote a comment and hashtags and all that rubbish, then put it on Instagram, I’d have to do that later on. [With] this thing, you can just do it real, real quick and it gives you more of an insight of what’s going on in my day because we are all over the place.
‘Unfortunately, F1 has blocked us from being able to film in the paddock… The amount of complaints I’ve had from all my snaps, it’s been on and on and on, [and] now you are not allowed to [film]. But you are allowed to take stills, so I don’t know what the real difference is.’
Ecclestone wants Flav back
Bernie Ecclestone admits he would like to see Flavio Briatore back regularly in the paddock and emphasised: “It is a pity that he is no longer there, that is a great loss for Formula 1. He’s the guy that I trust the most.”
Villeneuve: F1 must restore past glory and credibility
Villeneuve believes that F1 should not be trying to spice up the show and be chiefly about entertainment, with other championships taking up that role.
“First of all, we are picking the wrong fight if we want to spice up the show,” Villeneuve told French newspaper Le Figaro.
“We are trying to make F1 the equivalent of the X-Games. We want to cater for the teenagers who spend their lives on the internet and like something different every 10 minutes. But that will never be F1. You won’t see cars exploding during a race or rolling 20,000 times or making 10,000 overtakes all the while drifting and spinning. We should not try to seek that level of excitement. Any time a decision is made towards that goal, F1 destroys itself, we need to restore F1’s past glory, but above all its credibility. It is not an artificially manufactured Hollywood show. Any time we head in that direction, the sport becomes less interesting.”
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F1 in Vegas: Bernie’s gone nuts. Bernie wants Flav back: Certifiably LOONEY.
Bernie must go, when he does most of F1 problems will follow him out the door.
Well that’s the final nail…proof that the old goat needs to be rehomed and fitted with a nice white jacket. I remember the last Vegas GP,that was a winner 😂
F1 could survive (and thrive) the loss of Bernie far better than F1 could survive the loss of the Italian F1 race. Time to say good0bye Bernie.
“Bernie Ecclestone insists that F1 would survive the loss of Italy from the calendar” He is 100% right. F1 will survive. It has already survived being stripped of nearly all excitement, tracks getting progressively more and more bland and boring, politics becoming more important than the racing. It will survive the lack of Monza, the audience however, may not.
“He’s the guy that I trust the most” – I recon that story must have been intended for April 1st release. I mean – Flav? Trust?
Trust is very important in the maffia
You would be very surprised…