The sport has changed, I haven't.. Not enough sex scandals!

Bernie Ecclestone is sitting in his local pub, talking about Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen and the Ferrari driver's undeserved reputation as one of the dullest men on the planet.

"Every time I've been out to dinner with him," Ecclestone says, "he has been as good as gold. And he's even better when he's pissed.

"There's nothing wrong with that.

He doesn't embarrass people to the extent they say: 'My God, he shouldn't be doing that'. It's just that when he wants to do something, he doesn't muck about. He just does it.
"I think he's going to be the guy to beat this season. And I think he'll take a lot of beating."

There's a touch of nostalgia in the way Ecclestone talks about Raikkonen. As he approaches his 50th year in grand prix racing, he remembers the days when colourful characters used to be prized in Formula One rather than treated with suspicion and distaste.

Ecclestone's old school like that. No publicity is bad publicity in his book. But as F1 prepares for the opening of its new season in Australia in a fortnight, he says it's never been in better shape.

Even last year's Spygate Affair, he says, the initial £50million fine it brought for McLaren and the agonies it inflicted on team boss Ron Dennis, didn't damage the sport's reputation.
"I don't think it affected the sport badly," Ecclestone, 77, says. "I suppose it damaged poor old Ron more than anybody. He got all the stick, didn't he. That's how it is.

"If he didn't know what was going on, perhaps he should have known. And he should have apologised immediately. If he did know what was going on, he should have apologised immediately, too.

"That way he could have minimised the risk. It wasn't really a question of whether he should have quit or not. He's not an employee. He's a shareholder and he had internal support from other shareholders.

"They didn't want to believe what had happened. But look, it's not just McLaren that needs to watch out. Everyone needs to be careful. There but for the grace of God, you know. McLaren won't suffer too much this season. They're big enough and successful enough to ride it out."

Part of Ecclestone's optimism about McLaren is based on his admiration for Lewis Hamilton, the team's undisputed No.1 driver this year after the departure of Fernando Alonso at the end of last season.

The F1 supremo caused some surprise recently when he reacted to the abuse hurled at Hamilton during testing in Barcelona by saying the FIA's planned anti-racism campaign was unnecessary. "If I was Lewis Hamilton," he says, "I'd go up to the people who were shouting these insults and shake them by the hand and start talking.

"Say hello and ask them what their problem is.

"Say: 'Is it because I'm black or is it a problem with Fernando?' He could also say: 'I'm so sorry that Fernando left because he was so helpful last year'. They wouldn't know what to do.

"It is going to be a much more difficult year for Hamilton this year than last year. Last year, he could afford to be a little more relaxed. They had all the problems in the team but he didn't have any pressure to win.

"Now he's got a lot of pressure to win. He's the No.1 in the team for sure and people expect him to win. Having the world champion there last year took some of the heat off him. He must have learned from him as well.

"But it's not like Lewis is going to retire in a year or something. He's got a long time ahead of him. He's made his mark now. As far as the world is concerned, most people think he should have been world champion. He was unlucky not to be.

"I have been very impressed with him. He's very together. He says the right things at the right times to the right people. He will make statements depending on who he is talking to. He is very talented not only as a driver but as a person."

Hamilton's emergence is one of the reasons why Ecclestone is filled with optimism about F1. Others, he says, are that the engine manufacturers are fully committed to the sport and the threat of a breakaway is over.

"I don't think there's any chance of them disappearing," he says. He's not really a man given to wistfulness or sepia-tinged reminiscences about the good old days. But occasionally, the memories flood back.

"In lots of ways, I suppose they were the good old days," he says. "The guys all used to get together, the team owners and managers.

"We would help each other. If someone had an engine problem, someone would help them and they'd have an engine. It couldn't happen now and it wouldn't happen even if they still all used the same engines. They were just a different breed of people back then.

"The sport has changed. I ... we ... used to control every aspect of the sport. The sporting regulations, the technical regulations, what went on with the race. If we wanted to stop a race, I'd get a flag and stop it.

"The FIA look after the sporting aspect now. I don't get involved. I have grown to live with that.

"If we go back to the good old days, most of the owners ran the team. They had their dollars on the line whereas these days most of the people running the teams are not the owners. They are employed. It's a different dynamic.

"The Colin Chapmans of this world, the Teddy Mayers, we all used to fly by the seat of our pants and we'd make decisions on the run. Today, people have a board meeting, ring their doctor and then a psychiatrist comes in. The spontaneity has gone.

"Whether that's good or bad, I don't know. That's the way a lot of companies are run now. Ask anyone who sits on a company board and they say they are run by lawyers and accountants. We have got rid of the entrepreneurial type people. What's going to happen in the long term because of that, I don't know."

If the sport has changed around him, though, Ecclestone remains the same.

"I still have the same passion," he says. "I'm still wheeling and dealing, which is what I enjoy. I've not changed.

"I always feel that I'm a good friend. But if you're an enemy, look out."

source: click here



pic 1: Bernie Ecclestone Partying ;)