Bernie Ecclestone

Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone (born October 29, 1930 near Bungay, Suffolk) is the president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration, and owns a stake in Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary authority in Formula One racing. He is most commonly addressed in tabloid journalism as "F1 Supremo". His early involvement in the sport was as a competitor and then as a manager of drivers Stuart Lewis-Evans and Jochen Rindt. In 1972 he bought the Brabham team, which he ran for fifteen years. As a team owner he became a member of the Formula One Constructors Association. His control of the sport, which grew from his pioneering the sale of television rights in the late 1970s, is chiefly financial, but under the terms of the Concorde Agreement he and his companies also manage the administration, setup and logistics of each Formula One grand prix. Ecclestone attempted to compete in two grands prix during the 1958 season but failed to qualify for either of them. - source www.wikipedia.org

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US GP not vital to F1 - Ecclestone

Written by premalshah on

Linked from http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3884137&fSectionId=&fSetId=381
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London, England - Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has told US Grand Prix organisers he could take the race elsewhere if he can't agree a new deal with Indianapolis.

He told Britain's Daily Express newspaper: "It is not vital to F1 to be in the United States.

"There are bigger markets for us in other parts of the world. We could be in India soon instead of the United States.

We don't have a lot of sponsors from the US, no American teams and only one driver," he added.

"I get along with Indianapolis owner Tony George and I hope we can strike a deal, but we have offers from other places in the US too

2007 is the last year of Indianapolis' contract for the F1 race it has hosted since 2000. Ecclestone has talked in the past of taking F1 to street circuits in Las Vegas or New York.

However, he also faces a squeeze on the calendar, with Valencia and Singapore confirmed as new races for 2008 while Abu Dhabi is due to make its debut in 2009 and South Korea in 2010.

India is also lobbying hard for a race and Suzuka is looking to return to the championship as a second Japanese race after being replaced by Fuji.

Ecclestone's comments were similar to ones he made in 2006 before agreeing a one-year extension with Indianapolis, although the United States is a key market for the car manufacturers who dominate the sport and own most of the teams.

Mercedes motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug said: "The automobile market in the USA is the biggest one for Mercedes-Benz outside Germany

Mercedes-Benz owns 40 percent of championship leader McLaren.

BMW Sauber boss Mario Theissen agreed: "The US Grand Prix is of key importance for the BMW Group in so far as the United States is our biggest market.

"We sell more cars there than in Germany and also have our biggest production sites outside Germany." - Reuters

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