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Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is not impressed with the 'Americanization' of the sport. The 91-year-old billionaire believes his style of running the sport was far different from the way it is run by Liberty Media.
Speaking to Bloomberg after the Miami GP weekend, Ecclestone said:
“They are producing Formula 1: American Style. It may well be that it’s good, because so many stupid things come out of America and everyone’s happy, but it wasn’t the way I ran things.”
Often known to hurl a grenade or two into the sport's paddock, the former F1 chief was unimpressed by the 'Americanization' of the sport in recent times. Whilst the change has done a lot of good for the sport, Ecclestone feels that this wasn’t his style of running the sport in his time.
Liberty Media chief believes the new way of running F1 is the way forward
When Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media, was asked about Bernie Ecclestone’s remarks on the way F1 is being run, his reply was self-explanatory. While Maffei gave credit to the former supremo for building the sport, he believes it lacked the vision for the modern era which had surpassed its old ways.
Commenting on Ecclestone’s remarks to RaceFans, the American executive said:
“Bernie [Ecclestone] has to say something. That’s how he operates. Bernie deserves massive credit for building the sport. He built an enormous juggernaut. But the reality is, it didn’t move forward, in our judgment, over the last few years and the audience has stalled. Bernie’s line was ‘I like old rich white guys to pay for the sport’. Our view has been that there’s an opportunity to be much broader, to bring in gender diversity, to bring in age diversity. And I think that’s worked out well. And I’m willing to take Bernie’s criticism.”
Maffei believes the sport was too elitist and white-dominated in the Ecclestone era and lacked diversity. The direction the sport is currently taking is the way forward, according to the Liberty Media CEO, who feels the change in the sport has brought popularity to it in recent times. The F1 supremo got into trouble over his comments on racism in the past, which received a prompt reaction from Lewis Hamilton and the sport.
