Ecclestone: “The hybrid V6 has ruined F1”

Flew to Bahrain to participate in the meeting of the thinking heads of the Circus to decide what to do about the much disputed qualifications with elimination every ninety seconds Bernie Ecclestone wanted to publicly express his thoughts on the topic.

“Personally I would have kept the old format – Uncle's opinion – However the basic idea was to make the races more unpredictable and mislead some top drivers in Q2, which happened in Melbourne when Lewis Hamilton risked going out”.

Then talking about the engines V6 which did little to convince the fans and a part of the paddock, the Supreme of the Circus continued: “To the former President FIA Max Mosley I had suggested asking the manufacturers first if they were interested and instead he wanted to proceed in reverse, opting for the immediate transition to hybrid. If you had listened to me now we wouldn't have the power units which from the first analyzes had appeared too expensive. In my opinion they ruined F1."

Finally, on the future of the Monza GP which is still in the balance, the English boss concluded: “I had given the promoters the pen to sign the contract but now the extension has also expired and nothing is known. At this point Las Vegas could be a valid alternative. As far as the Nurburgring is concerned, I believe that the new owner has no interest in hosting one of our races. If he had, he would have sold me the circuit."

Chiara Rainis