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As expected, Bernie Ecclestone has been ousted as head of F1, taking up the pretend role of Honorary chairman.

I'll miss him greatly, he's the smallest big shot you'll ever see, (he's barely 5' tall) but an engaging & very very clever man.

Not exactly straight, he's as bent as a nine bob note, a sort of cross between Harry Redknapp & Ronnie Biggs, deffo a lovable rogue (unless you get the wrong side of him), but he single handedly built F1 into the colossus it is now.

There are numerous biographies of his life, & I'd urge you to read a fee of them, they all make excellent reading, real page-turners that are hard to put down.

What a life the old boy has had (he is 86), & what a monstrous fortune he has amassed.

Happy retirement Bernie, & thanks for everything. 

Insert your own caption - here's Bernie with a bunch of wide boys back in the 60's.

Bernie is replaced by Ross Brawn, who has had a stellar career himself, in effect founding the current all-conquering Mercedes Team. A seriously clever man.


 

The 2017 F1 season starts on March 26th, in Melbourne, Australia.

Wasn't there a rumour that the time where there was a sizable jump in his fortune coincided with the Great Train Robbery?

Ha, not heard that one before.

Never had you down as a Daily mail reader, Andrew?

He is wide, & a bugger to negotiate with, but I don't think he ever needed money that badly, he just accumulated it via shrewd/sharp deals.   

Horrible man.

Somewhere between Martin Lewis and Richard Branson in my list of "most deplorable people in the public eye".

Defining memory of the man:

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone pays to end bribery trial
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28656050

Glad he put some of that money to good use in stopping himself going to jail!

The new season is around a month away, & with the radically new tech specs for 2017, the new cars are being unveiled.

Think they look superb. Wider, lower, & MUCH faster.

Alonso to miss the Monaco GP.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39576099

think its quite a clever decision

energises Alonso, some good PR for team and Honda

Live internet coverage from the Alonso indy test yesterday was follow by more than 2 million people.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C--yBK5XYAAWtfU.jpg)

Is he Chris de Burghs' Father?!

Shaping up to be a monster season so far.

Competitive, fast cars and Ferrari are back.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/879058925227839488/a2WtSpMj?format=jpg&name=600x314)

FIA have confirmed they examined HAM telemetry & found restarts consistent each time - also HAM maintained consistent speed

surprised Vettel didn't get a bigger penalty

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDbDvSuXkAERasu.jpg)

A couple of links on comments on Vettel

https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/crime-and-punishment-2/ (https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/crime-and-punishment-2/)

And an epic rant from  Darren Heath - worth going to his site to see his photos every race week anyway

http://www.darrenheath.com/blog/disgracing-themselves (http://www.darrenheath.com/blog/disgracing-themselves)

I would give Vettel another 3 points so he gets a ban for the next race, it will mess up the championship but drivers can't act like kids.

community service from ferrari International Assistance

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DD09PHHXsAA_ZTt.jpg)

This might be of interest to folk on here?  Sure Rod Paradise could vouch for the guy offering this up

Interesting development as Mercedes announces it will quit DTM after 2018 and enter FIAformulaE for 2019-20

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DFhdd4FXcAAZq2j.jpg)

Wouldn't surprise me to see them drop F1 as well and the Brackley team to go private.

I don think any team will quit until after the post  2020 concord agreement has been agreed.

If Liberty media change the way money is handed out and caps costs then it could be a very profitable business owning an f1 team (unlikely but possible) so don't see many decisions for a while yet.

Joe Sawards post from yesterday looks more at the costs side and potential entrants. https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/strategic-thinking-2/ (https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/strategic-thinking-2/)

Porsche announces it is quitting sports prototypes after this season and will enter Formula E from 2019-10

Sauber confirm they will be powered by Ferrari next season after signing a multi-year deal