A weekend with Bernie
I was starting to worry that Bernie Ecclestone hadn’t said anything controversial for a while but his surprise visit to ‘Wrooom’, Ferrari’s annual ski trip at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy, last week provided ample opportunity.
He surprised everyone by showing up last Thursday wearing a bright red ski jacket, leading some to suggest he was trying to make up with Luca di Montezemolo who has been critical of the way Ecclestone has been running F1 and the amount of money the teams receive.
But when he was asked whether he would be meeting with the Ferrari president, Ecclestone replied:
I’ve no idea. It is not my intention. To be honest it is a cheap weekend for me.
And as for his 50 percent share of Formula One’s commercial earnings he said :
Now that we have really managed to reduce the costs a lot, we will be able to pay them less money! They don’t need so much money.
He also used the opportunity to respond to Sir Jacki Stewart’s recent criticism in the Times:
Most times and I am frightened about this when people get older, they become a bit senile and hes just caught it a bit early, thats all.