F1: Ecclestone hits back at drivers over open letter

Philip Duncan 12:00 02/04/2016
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Hitting back: Ecclestone.

    Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s chief executive, has hit back at the sport’s drivers by describing them as “windbags”.

    The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), led by Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel, took the extraordinary step of writing an open letter in which they blasted the “obsolete” and “ill-structured” governance of the sport.

    But speaking on the eve of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Ecclestone played down their concerns and claimed they were put up to it by their teams.

    Asked if the drivers were “windbags” – a term used to describe a person who speaks at length, but says little of any value – Ecclestone replied: “Some of them.”

    Pressed on which drivers he was referring to, the 85-year-old, said: “The ones that are.”

    Vettel, the four-time world champion, has been among those to spearhead the revolt, and referring to the sport’s decision to stick with the new qualifying format, which flopped so spectacularly on its debut in Melbourne, he said: “It’s something that we can’t be proud of. Put it this way – if you sell vanilla ice cream, but everybody who comes to your shop is asking for chocolate ice cream and the next day you open – you expect to sell chocolate ice cream but instead you just sell vanilla ice cream again.”

    Responding to the German’s comments, Ecclestone aimed a not-so thinly-veiled dig at Ferrari’s failure to win the championship in nearly a decade.

    Ecclestone added: “He should speak to his boss and tell him the same thing. They’ve been running an ice cream shop for a few years now. I am surprised that Sebastian put his name to it.”

    He continued: “They [the drivers] can say what they like can’t they? They can’t do anything. They can give an opinion. Everyone has got an opinion.”

    Recommended