Ecclestone downplays financial crisis

Eurosport - Thu, 01 Jan 20:20:00 2009

Bernie Ecclestone has moved to play down the impact the global financial crisis will have on the world of Formula One.

2008 Ecclestone - 0

Japanese manufacturer Honda has already pulled out - citing the crisis in the car sales industry - but the F1 supremo said 2009 will be business as usual.

"It's clear that the world financial crisis affects everyone, including the car industry. But it won't affect Formula One seriously," the 78-year-old billionaire said.

Ecclestone said the sport remains a huge draw, with which only the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games can compete.

On a visit to Serbia, he told the local newspaper Press: "As far as I know, all the tickets have been sold for almost every race in the next season.

"Moreover, we signed two huge deals, one with LG and one with DHL.

"It's simple: the big guns who want their ad across the whole world understand that Formula One is the cheapest way to achieve it."

F1-Live.com / Eurosport

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  1. richardmccall24 has made an excellent point here, if Bernie were to go, F1 would be much the poorer for it. He may not be F1 fans' cup of tea at this moment, but he has put F1 where it is today, like it or not. There are folks blaming him for the problems at Indiannapolis and at Montreal, for example, but the fact is, F1 only ever half-filled Indy, and the Montreal track was branded too dangerous by Mr Coulthard and his colleagues on the GPDA, and who are we, the arm-chair experts, to argue with that?

    From , on Mon 5 Jan 1:04PM

  2. Ok we all know Bernie at his ripe old age might be going a bit senile and that his ideas to reform F1 are now on the side of ridiculus (esc: medals etc)....But one thing that really NAFFS me off are all those people that keep having a go at McLaren over the 2007 scandal..........All teams spy and exchange details , that's the nature of the sport.....Mclaren were set up...then got hammered....
    Many posts in the past have moaned about Ferrari favoritism...and rightly so...Why should Ferrari get paid £80m more out of revenues than any other team?....How come bad, unsporting and reckless driving by Ferrari drivers always goes unpunished?
    The sooner Ferrari end up as a midrunning team the better
    Bernie....its about time you climbed out of the Mafias rectum and played fair ball

    From mrbeachams, on Mon 5 Jan 11:18AM

  3. i will tell you now if bernie was too go he would take f1 with him

    From R M, on Mon 5 Jan 6:52AM

  4. eloo f1 fools
    mr hamiltons son say he stay with mclaren men for life. that nice for him but what do mclaren men say? you see mclaren is now german owned. the parent company is the mercedes benz which is the german. the engine is the german engine. everything about the team is the german. mr hamiltons son now the swiss gentleman he eat much cheese and sings in the morning at mountains. mr hamiltons father is also now the swiss man. in fact there nothing british about this team at all. even the man who tidy up the garage after the race has moved to switzerland with his mother. switzerland is owned by the german. my friends the whole team is GERMAN - and guess what - so is mr glock. now you see why the time stand still for mr glock on the last lap. like he in the time warp. not even the people abducted by the alien lose the amount of time he lost on that last lap. IT IS A DISGRACE!!! ANOTHER CHEATIN YEAR IN 2009 FROUM MCLAREN AND CHEATIN BASHIN MR HAMILTONS SON

    From R M, on Sun 4 Jan 8:13PM

  5. Havn't got time Slim - got to cook dinner.

    From m.e.jenner, on Sun 4 Jan 11:49AM

  6. 676 the Greeks v Romans 2550 years ago started racist war of words ,,, still continues today

    From fototedlondona4, on Sun 4 Jan 8:35AM

  7. BERNIE HAS NO RIGHT TO BE ONE OF THE 6 SIX RICHEST MEN IN THE WORLD ... ! all from F 1 revenue

    HE HAS NO RIGHT TO KEEP 50% OF ALL F 1 RACE REVENUE --- EVEN 10% WOULD BE A LIMIT

    ALL SPOILT BOYS F 1 RACING SHOULD HALT IMMEDIATELY AT ONCE TODAY

    THE SQUANDERED MILLIONS $£ USED TO HELP SPREAD CHOLERA IN ZIMBABWE
    AND FEED POVERTY AREAS ALL ROUND THE WORLD

    From fototedlondona4, on Sun 4 Jan 8:05AM

  8. Marion : F1 may very well have folded several years ago had it not been for Bernie . Maybe mejenner would like to take over.

    From slimj, on Sun 4 Jan 1:14AM

  9. Fact is, Bernie Ecclestone has put Formula One into its position of importance worldwide, anybody who doesn't accept that is burying their head in the sand. Yes, he isn't popular with a lot of F1 fans, but that probably doesn't bother him. Who will succeed him in his role? Big shoes to fill.

    From , on Sun 4 Jan 12:17AM

  10. in my opinion ecclestone should leave F1 for good of this sport.. His ideas are stupid and F1comes more and more booooring cause of him.. Bernie, please, quit Formula One!!!

    From zukmaciej, on Sat 3 Jan 11:26PM

  11. nuno329,
    Spot on and quite true!

    From sdcharger717, on Sat 3 Jan 9:33PM

  12. HE LOST ALL RESPECT FROM THE DRIVERS
    Then hes team mclaren cheat in stealing top f1 secrets in what was the biggest spy scandal in f1 history!!
    They should of been banned for long Time but continued and so did mr hamiltons son continue bashing other drivers out of way in hes strive for the ultimate prize the F1 TITLE..
    Soon came end of season and with all the bashing and stealing secrets from mclaren mr hamiltons son had blown it all again..OH NO HES FATHER CRY,,
    OOHHH but wait a min ,, suddenly out of nowhere from over the horizon,
    NO SURELY IT CAN NOT BE!!! YES ITS HIM DADDY ITS HIM DADDY!! cried baby hamilton

    YES YES ITS FATHER GLOCK DADDY ITS FATHER GLOCK and the little boys dream came true...out of nowhare like an ALIEN arriving from Mars,,,faher glock had deliverd the ultimate prize to Mr hamiltons son....but the cost was so severve it ended forever F1 as we no it.

    MERRY XMAS MCLAREN........FATHER GLOCK MCLAREN CHEATIN S.UM..ANOTHER CHEATIN YEAR FROM MCLAREN

    From R M, on Sat 3 Jan 6:33PM

  13. IF FORMULA 1 IS TO SURVIVE ,BERNIE, MAX AND CO NEED TO GO QUICK...

    From NUNO, on Sat 3 Jan 10:49AM

  14. MGA : Yet another lie from you . I am not from the colonies , i can assure you of that

    From slimj, on Sat 3 Jan 12:32AM

  15. chitty bang bang :

    Fact 1 without the idiots we had a great discussion just before christmas. Lasted for hours

    Fact 2 The word Kraut is considered an ethnic slur and Nazism is racial . Possibly in war time it would be somewhat understandable that people would use these terms however today it is not .So, unless you and your friends here are over 60 you were not even born when war against Germany was going on. So, if you not over 60 you are racist as are your friends.

    From slimj, on Sat 3 Jan 12:30AM

  16. m.e.jenner : next time you are calling in please report sarg g for using yo mamma in post 42 of Hamilton made MBE by Queen.

    Now i understand spanner , whilst and some other terms here as being British /English language however the use of yo mamma is not a mockery of those having bad language skills or uneducated. Now if that ani't racial , but you don't see that ... do you.I'll find a few more for you jenner. It will make you look good in the eyes of the " Rat Squad "

    From slimj, on Fri 2 Jan 11:10PM

  17. MGA : . My country did not invade Iraq .. Yours did so you would probably have a better idea. How many innocent people have you guys killed ?

    From slimj, on Fri 2 Jan 11:00PM

  18. HE LOST ALL RESPECT FROM THE DRIVERS
    Then hes team mclaren cheat in stealing top f1 secrets in what was the biggest spy scandal in f1 history!!
    They should of been banned for long Time but continued and so did mr hamiltons son continue bashing other drivers out of way in hes strive for the ultimate prize the F1 TITLE..
    Soon came end of season and with all the bashing and stealing secrets from mclaren mr hamiltons son had blown it all again..OH NO HES FATHER CRY,,
    OOHHH but wait a min ,, suddenly out of nowhere from over the horizon,
    NO SURELY IT CAN NOT BE!!! YES ITS HIM DADDY ITS HIM DADDY!! cried baby hamilton

    YES YES ITS FATHER GLOCK DADDY ITS FATHER GLOCK and the little boys dream came true...out of nowhare like an ALIEN arriving from Mars,,,faher glock had deliverd the ultimate prize to Mr hamiltons son....but the cost was so severve it ended forever F1 as we no it.

    MERRY XMAS MCLAREN........FATHER GLOCK.......MCLAREN/HAMILTON CHEATIN S.UM
    LOOKIN TO ANOTHUR CHEATIN YEAR 2009...GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

    From R M, on Fri 2 Jan 10:27PM

  19. mejenner : tattletale. why don't you report those making racist and derogatory remarks about MS or Felipe or Spanish fans . Why don't you report those who made racist jokes about Ralph or Nazi and Kraut comments about Max .

    Come on big mouth .. i have yet to see you REPORT anyone of your buddies.

    From slimj, on Fri 2 Jan 10:22PM

  20. SlimeyJ - just reported you.

    From m.e.jenner, on Fri 2 Jan 10:13PM
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