More on Morality 06/07/2009 I have not posted anything for a couple of days because the only thing happening was the storm over Bernie Ecclestone's recent remarks regarding dictators. Contrary to what many believe, I do not think Bernie is so incredibly clever that everything he says is for a purpose - au contraire, it seems to me that his crass remarks are symptoms of a personality so lacking in common human decency that he does not understand how offensive his views are. They are hardly worth responding to, since they speak so eloquently of the moral bankruptcy of the little man who holds the purse strings of F1.As for Ecclestone's explanation (not apology, note), it is entirely predictable that the blame should fall on our shoulders for not understanding his meaning. Ignoring his strange assertion that Hitler was somehow not responsible for the evils of his regime, we are supposed to see that a dictator can "get things done" more efficiently than a democracy can.It is not the first time that Ecclestone has expressed his preference for a dictatorial form of government (presumably as long as he is the dictator), obviously because he thinks democracies spend most of their time in argument instead of getting on with the task in hand. But I would suggest that it is better that nothing is done, rather than the vile injustices perpetrated upon the innocent and powerless by dictators. Indeed, I would ask for one example, just one, of a dictator who did not achieve his ends through crimes against humanity and who did not bring about the eventual ruin of his country.But enough of the little man - he disgusts me. It is only through the corruption and degeneracy of the FIA that he has been allowed to continue is his position for so long. And that decay of moral values within the governing body is evidenced yet again by Pitpass's article, 2010 F1 team selection - the cat is out of the bag. The story of how the selection process became a part of Mosley's political game against FOTA is worth reading for those still puzzled by the FIA's choice of new entrants to the sport.I have written before about morality in F1 (Medals and Morality is just one example) and how the destruction of values and ethics within an organization begins at its head. Events of late have shown just how corrupt the governance of the sport has become and it has become obvious why FOTA's prime object is change in the way F1 is governed. The teams may not be models of purity themselves but, when confronted with the decay and rottenness at the heart of the sport, even they have been moved to say "Enough!"Change is coming, whether Mosley and Ecclestone like it or not. Like little Hitlers in their bunkers they hang on desperately to their powers, spouting nonsense and threats, determined to survive somehow. But the world has had enough of them and they are yesterday's men - one way or another, change is coming. I can only hope that they do not manage to destroy F1 in their last days.
Clive
RON Sounds like Max has converted Bernie to way of the Nazi...FOTA really should go ahead with a breakaway - the FIA are so disgusting, that I no longer watch F1... I sit here in the hope that FOTA get on with creating a breakaway series, where the basic ethics of racing can return...FOTA are way too silent for my liking... they should be whipping Max and Bernie to kingdom come... and not sitting idly by, while they spout more nonsense then Hitler's own propoganda machine... Date Added: 06/07/2009
Clive Ron: I sympathise entirely with the view that FOTA should just get on with creating a new series. There is a strong case for the state of the FIA being so far gone as to be beyond saving. But I wait and watch to see how FOTA manage their attempt to change the governance - if they succeed, then F1 can become again the great sport it once was.The silence of FOTA is the right tactic at the moment, I feel. Both Max and Bernie are trying to stir up trouble in the hope of splitting FOTA and the teams are best advised to treat their nonsense with the contempt it deserves. Date Added: 06/07/2009
verasaki All I can do is laugh at these buffoons and marvel that no one involved in this sport can actually do anything to hasten their demise. Every time they open their mouths they demonstrate how completely out of touch they are with everyone and everything connected to their sport and indeed, the rest of the world. Which is why they need to go. Neither of them are particularly responsible adults. If the head of pick-your-corporate-logo said something like this or was caught on vid with a couple of dominatrix they'd be booted off the island long ago. They are both too freaking stupid to even realize what cartoon characatures they are. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Clive Vera: I couldn't agree more. It's embarrassing, having F1 run by such idiots. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Nick Goodspeed Like Ron, I no longer bother to watch races. I have no more desire to get up at 7am Sunday only to hear later that the race results have been altered to suit Mosley's hidden agendas. The only way F1 can possibly become believable again is by beginning anew. The history will not change. Schumacher's record of wins will always be tainted, so long as people remember what has gone on behind the scenes (and on the track). In the same vein Jackie Stewert, Nicky Lauda, and the others will be remembered as coming from an era before the massive collusion brought on by the era of dictators. Many people seem to fear what will be lost by a break away series. I tend to think they are reacting like someone who has been told their leg has gangrene, and must be amputated. In other words, "Lose the leg or it will poison the whole body." Unfortunately the leg has been left to fester. What we have now is a question over the future credibility of all the FIA touches. I think it is time for the EU to hold a public enquiry into what is and has been going on in a multi billion dollar industry. If the FIA was based in the USA or any other single country, this could very well be going on now. In some ways I wonder if the F1 dictators aren't hiding behind the inertia of the European Union. As Clive says, Ecclestone disgusts. So does Mosley. Time will not cure there character flaws. They will only get worse and they will only make F1 and the FIA more and more like themselves, which is to say, totally out of touch with reality. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Clive Nick: And who now is bringing the sport into disrepute? I think that's a $100 million fine for both Max and Bernie. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Nick Goodspeed I look forward to the day there is freedom in Grand Prix racing. The day when we can say "What a marvelous job so-and-so did in designing X-car," without what is supposed to be the background stepping forward to ruin things for everyone. To a day when RACING is the subject, not dictators, crooked goings onand sick bastards destroying everyone else's fun. I do not see any possible way the present problems can be rectified by two power mad, senile old men. My only hope is that somewhere in the background the FOTA leaders realize this and are working double shifts to organize something credible to displace this fiasco. The one good thing is some of us can reminisce justifiably about "the good old days." I look forward to better things. Even my cynicism is starting to wear thin ;-) Date Added: 06/07/2009
donwatters I think FOTA remaining silent for the moment is the right play. It is understood by most people that Max promised to step down as part of the settlement deal to keep the FOTA teams in the FIA championship. They got most of what they wanted and it's best they present a united front and perception that it's a done deal, and no matter what kind of blather Max and Bernie spout, it doesn't change the agreement. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Clive Nick: Hear, hear. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Guilherme Teixeira Contrary to Ron, I think FOTA's silence is a good thing. Whatever they are planning, they shall not make it public. They shan't let even the FIA or FOM know about it. They should just say "Goodbye" and carry on their breakaway.Right now, I don't think that a change in the sport governance can change something. The problem is not only the FIA president - it's the whole organization and almost everyone running it. It's completely rotten. Whoever takes Mosley's role in FIA, he will fall silent to those unnoticed people who also runs the sport, backing Max. The governance is ruined, rotten up politically and ethically, leaving this (once) glorious sport shadowed by scandals and ego battles.It is much easier to leave those old Nazis with their new "Formula Cosworth" and carry on the Breakaway Series then to fix this disgustful (broken) administrative machine that runs F1. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Clive Don: It looks like the best way to go for the moment. If Max stands for re-election, the manufacturers can just withdraw and prepare for a new series in 2011. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Clive Guilherme: You're right but I can't blame the teams for trying to throw Max out without ditching F1 entirely. At least they're trying to be reasonable and cannot be accused of not doing everything they can to save the sport. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Guilherme Teixeira Clive: Of course we can't blame them for that. That's a remarkable behaviour by FOTA, something worth to be proud of and something that makes us trust in them. But I fear for the outcome of this situation - even if Max leaves his office in October, what guarantee we have that there will be any changes for the better? Even if a good president steps up for the role, we can't be certain if he will "get the things done", using Bernie's own words.The teams are trying to save our beloved sport, but it's regulatory body does not seem to care about the sport itself, looking only for money (Bernie) or power (Max).It's hard to save something between two parties if there is only one actually interesteed in saving it, while the other just say "go on and create your own series". It's really hard. So hard that it is easier to set up a entire new championship. And, in my opinion, ironical as it may be, doing so is a effective way to 'save' the sport.Sad, but true. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Steven Roy Makes you wonder why if he is such a great fan of dictators Bernie didn't just do what Balestre wanted rather than settig up FOCA in opposition to FISA.I know a lot of people are opposed to a FOTA breakaway because it would mean two championships. Who exactly is going to be in the FIA championship? I see a FOTA championship with the teams, the top drivers and Monaco. I don't see anything in the 'official' championship ad most of the teams who applied to join have withdrawn their applications. There would only be one championship. Unfortunately I think FOTA have blown their chance and there will be no breakaway now. Date Added: 06/07/2009
Fractal This piece triggered a memory...I had dashed off a comment in reply only to find that all I had written was merely an echo of all the above comments.. I hit the delete button and started again... Oh calamity! Now what?It was reading it again that gave a clue and fanned that spark of memory: ' But the world has had enough of them and they are yesterday's men - one way or another, change is coming. 'There it was; The hint of revolution from within: 'But the world has had enough of them and they are yesterday's men.'It reads as a poem.... A similar tone is present in the following - http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~martinh/poems/SECRET Any parallels drawn are entirely at the discretion of the readers.AFC Date Added: 06/07/2009
versaki The bits I read of his "apology" don't go down much smoother. He's yesterday's man alright...I haven't heard any one say "some of my best friends are (fill in the ethnicity, religion, gender or orientation of your choice)" in at least 15 years-and I live in that part of the US that's completely up front with their biases! Date Added: 07/07/2009
verasaki I just had time now to browse the Pitpass article, which I am guessigg is the real issue of this post and really makes Bernie's latest tendency to drama look like diversionary tactics. But that's just the conspiracy theorist in me. Some people at the FIA really don't seem to like Dave Richards, do they? Date Added: 07/07/2009
Pink Peril While Democracy has its flaws - I am yet to see a better system of governance. It can be no accident that Democracy is pre-dominant, and aspired to by those who do not experience it's freedoms. Just goes to show how contemptuous both S&Max and the poison dwarf are towards reality.I guess there is one thing to be thankful for, and that is the accident of their births being in the UK. Therefore they are forced to excercise a certain restraint owing to the laws of the lands they inhabit, and can only indulge their dictatorial tendencies within a commercial setting. Can you imagine what a disaster it would be if either were from a Country prone to coups or military rule, and in a position to become the despots they so obviously aspire to be? Date Added: 07/07/2009
Nick Goodspeed If there was ever anyone who owed his position in life to capitalist democracies, it is Ecclestone. His ludicrous remarks are the ravings of a very small man. The worst thing to be said for democracies is that they sometimes let pariahs and would be dictators exploit them for their own mercenary causes. Date Added: 07/07/2009
michael Hello Clive,I just love the moral and ethics debate in F1 because it's a glove that will never fit - simply too much money involved!In my rant (sorry again for that) a few days ago I came to think that no one is innocent in all this. And, that all these inner circle dependencies could and should have been long since broken by a media that does its work. A media not aloud to do it's job freely should not be making deals with the devil. nothing they have been writing will have not been the truth then, or? How many comments have we all been reading these days of journalists finally coming out with the truth about F1? Is that not the real scandal? Journalist working under the "duck and cover" premise.Bernie and Max could have long since been forced to react with all the political correctness hanging about these days and no sponsoring company in their right mind needing to be seen throwing money after "pigs" and being teinted by the dirt that splashes up respectively. Not all is down to the media but a journalistic media doing its darn job would have really more than helped! By the way Bernie's words are not a singularity. There are far too many people willing to argue that case - maybe one should address the situation with: "Why are they thinking that?" and not just knock them down. Hitler can hurt no one any more ever! He was real, he lived, his system was hell! what is so frustrating in these peoples minds (young and old) to be willing to write this horrific historic era with a golden pen? But that's surely for a different blog.all the bestall the best. Date Added: 07/07/2009
Peter pervez musharraf, arguably. Date Added: 07/07/2009
Peter Not to mention Augustas... Date Added: 07/07/2009
Steven Roy Ari Vatanen has announced that he is considering running against Max. I only hope that he can get enough votes to win. We need some like him running the FIA.Go Ari !http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jul/06/ari-vatanen-max-mosley-fia Date Added: 07/07/2009
Nick Goodspeed Steven: I fear that, even if he wins, what he will be leading will be a motley crew of cutthroats that are used to gaining favour by doing evil deeds. If Ecclestone had his way he'd lock up Vatanen in a cell in Libya for life. Date Added: 07/07/2009
Leslie Michael: I agree entirely about the journalistic ethics in F1. If they were rugby players we'd call them 'tackle shy', instead lets think of them as' FIA Pass/FOM shy'. If more of the backroom dealing, threats and lies were to get into the public domain there would be a lot less of it. Instead we are in the sporting equivalent of Zimbabwe, except F1 is a rich basket case.So, easy question to all you Journos out there: Why does Max Mosley hate Ron Dennis and why should he be able to exercise his power to satisfy this hatred?Starters for ten please lads. Date Added: 08/07/2009
Nick Goodspeed Mosley hated Dennis because Dennis wouldn't bow to Mosley or be bought by him ala Ferrari. He hated him even more for winning last year despite all Mosley's effort to prevent McLaren from winning. Date Added: 08/07/2009
DWinn Steven - Have a look at this article on Autosporthttp://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76759It appears that Max massaged the rules to make it difficult for anyone to stand against him - because of the 22 member 'cabinet' rules. Date Added: 08/07/2009
Clive Fractal: Chesterton as an antidote for the Bernie & Max show! It reminds me of Yeats' The Second Coming and Eliot's The Hollow Men... Date Added: 08/07/2009
Clive Vera: Agreed that the big issue will be the team selection process, rather than Bernie's senile nonsense. The storm is gathering already, it seems. Date Added: 08/07/2009
Clive Peril: I should imagine that, were the Terrible Two dictators of a country rather than a sport, they would "get things done" until the people decided they'd had enough and rose up to get rid of them. All dictatorships end in that way sooner or later and it seems to be happening in F1 too. Date Added: 08/07/2009
Clive Peter: I don't know enough about Musharraf to comment but he would be a debatable point, I think. Augustus was perhaps a better example but he was a man of his time and hard to compare with modern dictators therefore. It may be that he shone because the system he led was itself so corrupt that anyone could look good in it. Admittedly, the depravity of later emperors managed to shock even the society they inhabited. Date Added: 08/07/2009
Clive Steven: As DWinn points out, Autocar has revealed how heavily weighted against any challenger to the incumbent president is the FIA system. Vatanen may be the man to do it, however - he is used to the devious ways of politics. Date Added: 08/07/2009
Nick As todays meeting proves ..senility rules! Date Added: 08/07/2009
DWinn Nick, todays non-meeting proves to be a FIAsco Date Added: 08/07/2009
Clive Today's meeting proves that all those who said FOTA should just have broken away and set up a new series instead of reaching agreement with Mosley were right. The man cannot be trusted and cares nothing for the sport he is supposed to govern. Date Added: 08/07/2009
donwatters It's clearly time for FOTA to take matters into their own hands and create a new championship. They have bent over backwards to keep the series viable, but Max (and to a lesser degree in my mind, B. Ecclestone) have made that impossible. The only thing that really suprises me is that CVC hasn't directed Bernie to do whatever is necessary to get rid of Max. They're on the hook for a ton of money and I don't understand why they're so uninvolved. Date Added: 09/07/2009
Guilherme Teixeira I could slash a new reply here in the wake of the news about the walkaway from today's meeting, but it would be in vain - I've already voiced almost all my feelings towards this in my previous replies...Breakaway now! Date Added: 09/07/2009
Corey Its amazing that an organization can continue to ruin a sport without interference. I was one of the people who was bothered that a split may hurt F1 more than trying to force Mosley out but I always had fears that once he stayed he would be back to his old tricks again. All of those fears have materialised today and I believe that the only way forward for F1 is for a complete breakaway from the FIA. I think Ari Vatanen would get support but to produce a list of 22 trustworthy candidates to beat Mosley will be near impossible. Something drastic must be done to show these two dictator wannabees that there is no more room for them in F1. Date Added: 09/07/2009
DWinn The press release regarding the FIA/FOTA meeting of 24th June has mysteriously disappeared from the FIA website.Obviously Max doesn't want to admit any agreement took place. Date Added: 09/07/2009
Journeyer DWinn, the press release from the 24th of June is on another page:http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/Pages/list.aspx Date Added: 09/07/2009
DWinn Thanks for that Journeyer. I read it had been removed on the formula-1.updatesport.com site and then couldn't find it myself. Date Added: 09/07/2009
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