Ecclestone: I don't know how to fix F1

Yesterday in an interview with the media, Bernie Ecclestone has admitted he is not capable of solving Formula One’s financial problems without the biggest teams making sacrifices for the good of the sport.

Following the collapse of Marussia and Caterham in the last two weeks, F1 arrived in Austin for the US Grand Prix in a state of turmoil. Force India is among other cash-strapped teams threatening to boycott this weekend’s race, while larger teams remain unwilling to suddenly cut expenditure and the jobs that would go with it.

At the centre of the spat is the distribution of prize money, which is heavily weighted towards the most successful teams and those with a long history in the sport. On top of that the F1 Strategy Group was set up this year to make decisions about the future of the sport but only includes Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren, Williams and Lotus, meaning Force India, Sauber, Marussia, Caterham and Toro Rosso do not have representation.
The politics came to a head in Austin and in his interview with the media yesterday, Ecclestone admits there is no easy answer within the contracts he has negotiated with the teams. Ecclestone stated the following:-

'We have to decide the best way to sort this whole thing out. Frankly, I know what’s wrong but don’t know how to fix it. No one is prepared to do anything about it because they can’t.
'The regulations have tied us up. If we were in a position where we could help these teams in trouble, we would do it. But we are not allowed to. They say if you give this team $10,000, everyone has to have $10,000. The trouble with lots of regulations and lots of contracts is that we don’t think long-term.

'It makes no difference to me how the money is shared out. If they sat down here with me now and said they want to share out all of the money we get in a different way, I would say, ‘Good, give me the bit of paper’.'

As Ecclestone says himself, this situation needs to be resolved as quickly as possible with all the teams present. It would appear that he doesn't at the moment know the best solution possible to fix the situation with Formula One right now to the benefit of all involved and also without breaking the regulations in the process.

It would seem that the regulations that are enforced until the 2020 season cannot be changed, even if two teams are in trouble with a few more on the grid looking uncertain. Ecclestone has said it makes no difference how the money is distributed in the sport and would be happy to sort it out right now if he could but he cannot do so at the moment.
Further on in his interview yesterday, Ecclestone takes some of the blame as he negotiated the contracts that favour the bigger teams financially. Ecclestone added the following:-

'The problem is there is too much money probably being distributed badly – probably my fault. But like lots of agreements people make, they seemed a good idea at the time.'
For Ecclestone to admit that it could be his fault that this situation has occurred due how the money is distributed is very admirable but could have been avoided in my opinion. But at the end of the day, Ecclestone believed it was the best option at the time and went with it even if it has been proven to be incorrect and has ended becoming in this situation at the moment.

But let us not forget that CVC Capital has a controlling stake in the sport’s commercial rights and as an employee, Ecclestone admits in his interview that he has had to negotiate on their behalf rather than for the good of the sport. Ecclestone said the following:-

'If the company belonged to me I would have done things in a different way because it would have been my money I was dealing with. I work for people who are in the business to make money.'

As he points out, maybe if Ecclestone ran the company things would have been different and he would have concentrated more on the benefit of the sport rather than getting CVC the best deal moneywise. But let us not forget that Formula One is a business first and foremost and without the money, we wouldn't have a sport in the first place and the sport needs to make money in order to go racing every other weekend during a season.
Ecclestone has also said in his interview that he would be willing to cancel the current contracts and start again:-

'I would tear all the contracts up. Take all the money, pay all the teams’ debts that should be paid so people haven’t suffered because of Formula One. And people haven’t got credit for Formula One. And then say this is what you are going to get next year, this is the amount of money we’ve got and this is what is going to happen from now on in. It’s percentages.'

It is clear that Ecclestone would if he had the chance would start all over again, help the teams that are in financial trouble and then arrange a new agreement that would benefit the teams but also be a fair solution to the current problem. But then with the teams especially the top teams with their success in the sport attracting the most sponsorship thereby bringing in the most money, they may not agree with what Ecclestone has suggested above.

He then added in the latter stages of his interview that a solution would be possible if the top teams are willing to make sacrifices:-

'I think the situation is such that if enough people want it resolved, we can resolve it. It’s a case of the people that are involved in the sport will have to want to look after the sport and prepared to make some sacrifices.'

I would agree with Bernie here and if the situation is such as such and people want to see it resolved, then sacrifices will have to made in order to achieve this objective as quickly as possible that will enable them to go racing with a good budget behind them and also helps the long term future of the sport too. And this has to be the most important thing for all concerned with the situation in Formula One right now before it gets worse.

But if the top team’s sacrificed some prize money, Ecclestone said yesterday that he would even be willing to match the amount in order to keep the smaller outfits afloat. Ecclestone said the following:-

'I said to people getting a chunk of money that I would like to take a percentage of their performance related payment, put that money together to divide among three or four we know are in trouble but are not going to run away with the money and then I will put in the same amount of money.

'We have to open the eyes of those people in a position to turn the lights on and off to what they need to do because I wouldn’t want to be in a position where I was too strong and Formula One disappears and someone says it is because of you it disappeared.'

It would seem that the suggestion made by Ecclestone above could work in the near future; it does make a lot of sense and could help smaller teams stay into the sport. This also shows to me just how serious Ecclestone is about the situation and would even personally help financially to keep as many teams in the sport for as long as possible.

But Ecclestone for me here sums it up; Formula One has to open its eyes to the situation it is currently in before the reputation of the sport comes under future scruinity and damages its reputation even further.

The situation regarding the distribution of money in the sport needs to be resolved as quickly as possible and an arrangement needs to made that will help the teams financially and also helps the sport in the long run too. As Ecclestone says if they want this to happen, sacrifices have to be made in order to achieve this objective.

It is clear for Formula One fans that Ecclestone would have done things differently and has suggested a few options that he would do if he could if the regulations could be broken right now. But with the regulations in place until 2020, it could be hard for Ecclestone and the teams to find a viable solution to resolve this situation for the good of Formula One. But they need to before it is too late and we lose even more teams and also damage the reputation of the sport even further.

But what is clear for all to see is that Formula One is in a situation that it cannot be in right now and it is a situation that could have been avoided a lot sooner. But what is the next step that Ecclestone and the teams will take to try and resolve this situation? That is the question in everyone's minds right now and hopes that it is answered soon.

Sarah Jones