Bernie's foot-in-mouth disease needs treatment

I have a friend who says the first thing that comes into his head. This gets him into a lot of trouble.

This is something Formula One guru Bernie Ecclestone is no doubt familiar with, especially in light of his recent remarks to the media about F1 icon Ayrton Senna. The original story in the Spanish newspaper El Pais can be found here.

AP FILE PHOTO

Jenson Button autographs an Ayrton Senna poster last month. Since his death in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Senna has become an icon among racing fans.

As my friend's wife says to him: “Think before you speak. Count to three before opening your mouth.”

Sometimes he does; sometimes he doesn't. But her good counsel is a constant in his life.

Ecclestone’s problem is that his ex-wife Slava isn’t around anymore to, a) tell him to shut up or, b) beat him up if he doesn’t.

Have you noticed that Ecclestone’s been putting his foot in his mouth a lot more since his wife divorced him? He’s always been right-wing, confrontation and controversial but there was always a degree of political correctness to everything he said. But since the split, there’s been no shades of grey; everything’s been black and white.

First, there was the Hitler thing. That’s when he suggested you had to admire the guy because he knew how to get things done.

Now he’s gone and said that the death of Ayrton Senna was a good thing for Formula One.

Ecclestone looks at the world differently than most people. He’s a “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” kind of guy. Or, “I don’t care what you say about me so long as you spell my name correctly.”

So when Senna was killed, it was front-page news around the world. People who couldn’t give two hoots about the sport knew all about it. In Ecclestone's view, that’s a positive. In Ecclestone's vew, that’s good for the sport.

It isn’t, of course. Death tends to put off more people than it titillates.

But don’t tell that to Ecclestone. He’s not listening – and there’s nobody around to make him.

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I put my foot in my mouth Sunday night when I wrote my opinion about the Brazilian Grand Prix and mentioned that Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen were probably driving their final races for McLaren and Ferrari, respectively.

Of course, I also happened to mention that there was an upcoming Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. Several people who took time to comment pointed out that Kovalainen and Raikkonen will likely be driving in that race.

Now, I could be a smart guy and say those guys were probably driving in the last race that counted, but I won’t.

It was brain fade. I was careless. I apologize.

Comments

[Peter]

accidents are part of motorsport. it will never put me off. but F1 was never the same ever since Senna was gone.

[ultranol]

The original story is from Folha de Sao Paulo, a Brazilian newspaper. Ecclestone tried to dismiss his statements, calling reporter Fabio Seixas a "liar"... but the damage was done.

About Kimi and Heikki, even saying that the race was the last of those which "mattered" would be wrong, as Raikkonen and Hamilton are fighting head-to-head on both championships, drivers (4th place) and constructors (3rd place).

So, good that you didn't say that. :)

[Ken House]

Bernie's comments with respect to Senna's death is very old news and likely taken out of context as per usual.

He has made these comments in the past and they are backed up by the world TV numbers.

I'm no Bernie apologist, but please, he has said this when asked about Senna's death for over 15 years.

Have you checked the context of the article? I do not read Spanish, but apparently you do, so perhaps you can enlighten us on the context.

I can refer you to an old Autosport article from 1997 where Bernie's of this and was very sympathetic to the memory of Senna.

But it does make a great headline for your rather light article

[allenparkpete]

it doesn't make me appear as a nice guy but then again I never said or felt I was but if Bernie Ecclestone were to pass that would be good for Formula One as well.

[Jorge Martins]

Well, what can I say??? Senna's death was a tragedy, but in a way or not, people like "Bernie", Patrick Head,Frank Williams, doesn't care much about lives but they do care about profits. This is the real Formula in nowadays.

[ultranol]

Regardless whether F1 ratings actually did go up after Senna's death, you just can't say it out loud, specially when talking to a newspaper from his home town and country. You can't go to Brazil and tell them that the tragedy which killed one of their greatest heroes was a good thing. It's like going to Liverpool and telling their local newspaper that the best thing for the Beatles was the death of John Lennon.

[racingmaniac]

Not sure why Williams and Head is grouped in that category....accidents happens, regardless what cars you are driving...

Senna's death did help bring about a whole lot of change to the safety rules in F1 that helped to this day. F1 has had 0 fatality since 1994's Imola race, and few, if any career ending accidents for the drivers.....Something that cannot be said for many other motorsports...