Bernie Ecclestone believes a change in engine formula is the \u201cright thing to do\u201d for Formula 1, and has admitted he misses aspects of running the show.<\/p>\n
The former F1 supremo, who controlled the sport\u2019s commercial aspects before Liberty Media\u2019s purchase of the rights from CVC 10 years ago, is in attendance at the Austrian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Bernie Ecclestone praises Ben Sulayem and labels 24-race calendar \u2018wrong\u2019<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a\u00a0preferred source on Google<\/a>\u00a0to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n The 95-year-old sat down with select media, including PlanetF1.com, in which he outlined his perspective on a wide range of topics, including the job that has been done by Liberty Media in growing the sport\u2019s commercial appeal around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThey made things a little bit more American, which is basically what they wanted to do,\u201d he said, when asked about the influence Liberty Media has had on Formula 1, joking that the US entertainment corporation\u2019s greatest achievement was in buying the commercial rights at the \u201ccheap\u201d price that it did.<\/p>\n \u201cOtherwise, they\u2019re doing all the things that look good, which is also important and, from that point of view, it\u2019s positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Under Liberty Media, the calendar has swelled to a record-breaking 24 races and, in tandem with that, Formula 1 has introduced the \u2018Sprint\u2019 format in which an extra, short, race is held on Saturday while removing two of the Grand Prix practice sessions.<\/p>\n Asked by PlanetF1.com whether this has diluted the prestige of a Grand Prix weekend, Ecclestone was unequivocal.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth things are wrong. 24 races is wrong for everyone, including the public,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou lose a lot of people who miss a race and say \u2018Oh, we\u2019re going to see one very shortly in another couple of weeks or something.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sprint races\u2026 I\u2019ve no idea what that\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n With Ecclestone attending only a select handful of races annually, revisiting the sport that he shaped for so long, he said that there are aspects of his old duties that he misses.<\/p>\n \u201cJust thinking about it, I miss part of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI miss putting things together on the financial side. They\u2019re all there. Did I ever stop to the end of a race? No, so whether that\u2019s good or bad, I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve done my job.\u201d<\/p>\n While Ecclestone\u2019s own time in the sport has ended, his wife Fabiana serves as one of FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem\u2019s vice-presidents for Sport, and the Emirati\u2019s tenure as president, which started in 2021, is one that has impressed him.<\/p>\n This week, the FIA revealed its strongest year, financially, in a decade, amidst increased commercial strength under the new commercial department established in 2023.<\/p>\n More on the FIA<\/p>\n FIA president targets huge F1 car weight reduction<\/a> \u201c[Ben Sulayem] has had a difficult job to do, because he inherited things which he didn\u2019t start, so he wasn\u2019t at liberty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was voted in to do something which he had no idea exactly what he had to do, so he\u2019s since been finding out all the things to do and not to do, and I think he\u2019s done a super job.<\/p>\n \u201cFinancially, he\u2019s getting the FIA in the position it should have been before.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no reason why the FIA, if they make money, it\u2019s criminal. They have an organisation to keep, and they need finance to keep it, and they need finance to do all that other things he\u2019s doing to help all the clubs, generally help.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t take any money, he\u2019s not in there for himself financially, so he\u2019s there to do the best he can for the sport he\u2019s looking after.\u201d<\/p>\n With an operating profit of 6.7 million euros reported for the financial year 2025, this marks a significant turnaround from the financial position of a -24 million operating loss in 2021, while operating revenues increased by 75 percent from the same year.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to think of anything he\u2019s done wrong, which he\u2019s not,\u201d Ecclestone said of Ben Sulayem\u2019s administration of the governing body.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not an easy task to do what he\u2019s moved into.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s trying to get everything working fairly, and a little bit up to date.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, like these things, you can\u2019t be 1,000,000 per cent right all the time, but I can\u2019t see anything that he\u2019s done that he shouldn\u2019t have done.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s one or two things, which I hope is going to improve in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked what those improvements could be, he said, \u201cThree-litre engines!\u201d but said he \u201cdidn\u2019t care\u201d what architecture is chosen for the next engine regulations, whether that\u2019s a V8, V10, or V12.<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly, yes, I think probably all you [media] would be happy with that \u2013 I think that\u2019s the right thing to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our\u00a0broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a>\u00a0to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the\u00a0PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n
Mohammed Ben Sulayem says multi-team ownership \u2018not right\u2019 in response to Mercedes interest in Alpine<\/a><\/p>\n