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Bernie Ecclestone is a very clever man. It also happens that he is extremely cunning. This time last week, the octogenarian was pleading the case for the reinstatement of the Bahrain Grand Prix to this year’s Formula One calendar, to seemingly the entirety of society.
Wish granted, the Briton cited “unusual circumstances” as the reason behind the controversial outcome, claiming that the sport’s governing body, the FIA, found the situation in the island state to be satisfactory to resume activities.
Yet, come yesterday, it is as if the F1 ringleader has been possessed by the anti-spirit of his ancestor, Ebenezer Scrooge.
His new line is that “we can see that we need to be careful”, adding that “money makes no difference”, whilst urging FOTA (the teams’ body) to push for a re-vote on the outcome of the race.
He added that the race would be best suited as the season finale – in December, in the instance of any hostilities resuming, whilst restoring the inaugural Indian Grand Prix to it’s original October 30 date.
Is it just me, or has this man gone mad? Since when hasn’t it been about the money to Bernie Ecclestone? I smell a rat.
Bernie Ecclestone isn’t the kind of person to turn his back on $100 million after lobbying so hard for his ’cause’.
Clearly, there is an ulterior motive in the pipelines, and the most logical explanation is that Bernie is trying to push himself closer to FOTA by aligning himself with their disposition, in order to remain popular for the future.
That future being Formula One post 2012, when the existing Concorde Agreement (which binds the teams to the sport) lapses, and with recent conjecture about the regulations in place from 2013, Bernie is obviously keen to win brownie points.
And on such a divisive issue, which extends so much further than moral principles, such as the season consequently being slated to end in mid-December (perhaps the most unpopular move in the sport’s history) as a result of Bahrain’s reinstatement, the opportunity for Bernie to be a hero in the team’s eyes is there for the taking.
So whilst on the surface is may appear that Bernie Ecclestone has transformed into Johnny-come-Lately, the truth is that he is up to his usual tricks, only this time, he could very well have played his ace card, his joker, which means that he could have Formula One wrapped around his gold encrusted finger for a while to come…
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