I'll never understand how someone standing trial for bribery was permitted to "pay off" the accuser !
"That set in motion a series of sales where the rights were passed from one entity to another, a process that led Ecclestone to stand trial for bribery in Germany in 2014, a case that was dropped after a payment of $100m (£79m) without presumption of guilt or innocence. Subsequently Liberty took over from previous owner CVC Capital Partners."
Just wondering whether being owned by Ecclestone would be better than Roland or not...
He will probably die before Roland.
Not nice.
True. No offence intended.....
.....but in all honesty I do think that with the control of F1 taken away from BE he will be knocking on heavens door soon. It has been his life and he does not seem the type to 'retire' for an easy life. His life has literally been taken from him and he will hurt and suffer as a result.
Similar to Roland. Not the type to take it easy, do his hobbies, a bit of charitable voluntary work now and then.
BE is quite a bit older than RD and RD is still in a position to be a control freak.
He has done a lot more for Formula 1 than many give him credit for, sure he stirs the pot and tosses out some outlandish and ridiculous comments, but it was all to get people talking about his product.
It will be interesting to see what the Americans do with the sport now
I think it has. Ok he is still alive but if you are 80 plus and 99% of your existence relies on one thing (F1 in this case), his whole 'raison d'etre' has been taken from him. He won't be happy just advising.
I don't particularly like the man but you can't ignore the passion and energy for a man of his age.
His biography was fascinating. Stick it on your to read list if you have not come across it.
Second hand car dealer in Bexleyheath to multi-billionaire.
When I was growing up in the 1950's and early 60's our house backed onto Crook Log Primary School, which I attended.
Just down the road, at the start of Bexleyheath Broadway, was Compton and Ecclestone who sold motorbikes and second hand cars.
Fred Compton lived in The Grove and his son Peter was a friend of mine for a while, we used to play Danson Park quite a bit.
Next thing they moved and Bernie moved the business to Crook Log where a small Asda's is now.
Called James Spencer (I think) and always had some amazing cars for sale including some American ones.
When I was at art college in Bromley 1966-9, he used to live in a lovely mock tudor mansion in Old Hill, Chislehurst with an illuminated pond in the front garden and before that in Parkhill Road in Bexley in a house called Six Chimneys.
Around 1970 I started seeing Jochin Rindt's tour bus parked at the back of his car lot, which is mentioned in the biography. I guess that's when he started getting involved with F1.
I spoke to him a few times when he would be having a lunchtime drink in The George in Bexley Village, always easy to talk to and quite a dry sense of humour.
He has done a lot more for Formula 1 than many give him credit for, sure he stirs the pot and tosses out some outlandish and ridiculous comments, but it was all to get people talking about his product.
It will be interesting to see what the Americans do with the sport now
He turned F1 from what was almost a gentleman's hobby, until a massively successful sport.
The last few years though, the sport has definitely lost its way
Losing races on the great European tracks in favour of new races in dodgy regimes prepared to pay a fortune for the rights Unequal distribution of the money, so that the smaller teams get a pittance Artificial gimmicks like DRS, and the rules on tyres and engines meaning drivers spend too much time nursing their cars instead of racing properly Putting the sport on pay TV
His biography was fascinating. Stick it on your to read list if you have not come across it.
Second hand car dealer in Bexleyheath to multi-billionaire.
When I was growing up in the 1950's and early 60's our house backed onto Crook Log Primary School, which I attended.
Just down the road, at the start of Bexleyheath Broadway, was Compton and Ecclestone who sold motorbikes and second hand cars.
Fred Compton lived in The Grove and his son Peter was a friend of mine for a while, we used to play Danson Park quite a bit.
Next thing they moved and Bernie moved the business to Crook Log where a small Asda's is now.
Called James Spencer (I think) and always had some amazing cars for sale including some American ones.
When I was at art college in Bromley 1966-9, he used to live in a lovely mock tudor mansion in Old Hill, Chislehurst with an illuminated pond in the front garden and before that in Parkhill Road in Bexley in a house called Six Chimneys.
Around 1970 I started seeing Jochin Rindt's tour bus parked at the back of his car lot, which is mentioned in the biography. I guess that's when he started getting involved with F1.
I spoke to him a few times when he would be having a lunchtime drink in The George in Bexley Village, always easy to talk to and quite a dry sense of humour.
I wish him nothing but the best in the future.
Hold up, Bernie Ecclestone was a second hand car dealer based out of the little Asda site at the end of Avenue Road/Crook Log?
I never knew that, that's quite a fascinating little bit of local history there @mistrollingin.
Hold up, Bernie Ecclestone was a second hand car dealer based out of the little Asda site at the end of Avenue Road/Crook Log
Bernie used to race as well until he had bad crash and jacked it in.
About this time in the 1950's, his friend, Stuart Lewis-Evans was badly burnt in a crash and died a few days later. He also owned a garage and there is now a road named after him opposite Welling FC.
Another friend who also raced cars was Bill Whitehouse, who my father knew, who had the garage on the roundabout at Blendon, which his son Brian took over and built into a very successful car business and later a huge VW dealership.
As Soapy Jones said, the biography is a great read with lots of mentions of the area and some wonderful photographs as well.
He has done a lot more for Formula 1 than many give him credit for, sure he stirs the pot and tosses out some outlandish and ridiculous comments, but it was all to get people talking about his product.
It will be interesting to see what the Americans do with the sport now
He always comes across as a complete prick whenever I've seen/heard him interviewed, but he grew the sport massively through the 80s and 90s.
It's been in decline again for several years now though, maybe not financially, but certainly in terms of competitiveness and excitement. Maybe not all Bernie's fault but it's long overdue that someone else had a go at taking the sport back to its best.
His biography was fascinating. Stick it on your to read list if you have not come across it.
Second hand car dealer in Bexleyheath to multi-billionaire.
When I was growing up in the 1950's and early 60's our house backed onto Crook Log Primary School, which I attended.
Just down the road, at the start of Bexleyheath Broadway, was Compton and Ecclestone who sold motorbikes and second hand cars.
Fred Compton lived in The Grove and his son Peter was a friend of mine for a while, we used to play Danson Park quite a bit.
Next thing they moved and Bernie moved the business to Crook Log where a small Asda's is now.
Called James Spencer (I think) and always had some amazing cars for sale including some American ones.
When I was at art college in Bromley 1966-9, he used to live in a lovely mock tudor mansion in Old Hill, Chislehurst with an illuminated pond in the front garden and before that in Parkhill Road in Bexley in a house called Six Chimneys.
Around 1970 I started seeing Jochin Rindt's tour bus parked at the back of his car lot, which is mentioned in the biography. I guess that's when he started getting involved with F1.
I spoke to him a few times when he would be having a lunchtime drink in The George in Bexley Village, always easy to talk to and quite a dry sense of humour.
I wish him nothing but the best in the future.
Hold up, Bernie Ecclestone was a second hand car dealer based out of the little Asda site at the end of Avenue Road/Crook Log?
I never knew that, that's quite a fascinating little bit of local history there @mistrollingin.
Never knew that either. You learn something new every day!
Comments
"That set in motion a series of sales where the rights were passed from one entity to another, a process that led Ecclestone to stand trial for bribery in Germany in 2014, a case that was dropped after a payment of $100m (£79m) without presumption of guilt or innocence. Subsequently Liberty took over from previous owner CVC Capital Partners."
Just wondering whether being owned by Ecclestone would be better than Roland or not...
.....but in all honesty I do think that with the control of F1 taken away from BE he will be knocking on heavens door soon. It has been his life and he does not seem the type to 'retire' for an easy life. His life has literally been taken from him and he will hurt and suffer as a result.
Similar to Roland. Not the type to take it easy, do his hobbies, a bit of charitable voluntary work now and then.
BE is quite a bit older than RD and RD is still in a position to be a control freak.
It will be interesting to see what the Americans do with the sport now
I don't particularly like the man but you can't ignore the passion and energy for a man of his age.
Second hand car dealer in Bexleyheath to multi-billionaire.
Just down the road, at the start of Bexleyheath Broadway, was Compton and Ecclestone who sold motorbikes and second hand cars.
Fred Compton lived in The Grove and his son Peter was a friend of mine for a while, we used to play Danson Park quite a bit.
Next thing they moved and Bernie moved the business to Crook Log where a small Asda's is now.
Called James Spencer (I think) and always had some amazing cars for sale including some American ones.
When I was at art college in Bromley 1966-9, he used to live in a lovely mock tudor mansion in Old Hill, Chislehurst with an illuminated pond in the front garden and before that in Parkhill Road in Bexley in a house called Six Chimneys.
Around 1970 I started seeing Jochin Rindt's tour bus parked at the back of his car lot, which is mentioned in the biography.
I guess that's when he started getting involved with F1.
I spoke to him a few times when he would be having a lunchtime drink in The George in Bexley Village, always easy to talk to and quite a dry sense of humour.
I wish him nothing but the best in the future.
The last few years though, the sport has definitely lost its way
Losing races on the great European tracks in favour of new races in dodgy regimes prepared to pay a fortune for the rights
Unequal distribution of the money, so that the smaller teams get a pittance
Artificial gimmicks like DRS, and the rules on tyres and engines meaning drivers spend too much time nursing their cars instead of racing properly
Putting the sport on pay TV
I never knew that, that's quite a fascinating little bit of local history there @mistrollingin.
Bernie used to race as well until he had bad crash and jacked it in.
About this time in the 1950's, his friend, Stuart Lewis-Evans was badly burnt in a crash and died a few days later. He also owned a garage and there is now a road named after him opposite Welling FC.
Another friend who also raced cars was Bill Whitehouse, who my father knew, who had the garage on the roundabout at Blendon, which his son Brian took over and built into a very successful car business and later a huge VW dealership.
As Soapy Jones said, the biography is a great read with lots of mentions of the area and some wonderful photographs as well.
It's been in decline again for several years now though, maybe not financially, but certainly in terms of competitiveness and excitement. Maybe not all Bernie's fault but it's long overdue that someone else had a go at taking the sport back to its best.
His oldest child is around 65 so old enough to be a grandparent to his latest child
She'll spend her days mushing up his food, changing his nappy and trying to get him to nod off. Then she'll see to the baby.