Ecclestone reveals special 'Ferrari deal'

As Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has said he wants to see a greater transparency from Ecclestone about the revenues in Formula 1 Bernie Ecclestone now hits back at the Italian by revealing Ferrari's special deal with Formula 1 where the Scuderia is receiving millions of dollars extra.

An angry Ecclestone has told The Times that the Ferrari president should be the last person to be complaining about how much revenue the teams receive. "The only thing he has not mentioned is the extra money Ferrari get above all the other teams and all the extra things Ferrari have had for years - the 'general help' they are considered to have had in Formula One," Ecclestone told The Times.

"Ferrari get so much more money than everyone else," Ecclestone said. "They know exactly what they get, they are not that stupid, although they are not that bright, either. They get about $80 million (about £54 million) more. When they win the constructors' championship, which they did this year, they got $80 million more than if McLaren had won it."

Ecclestone reveals that the reason for paying Ferrari the extra $80 million goes back to 2003 when F1 teams tried to form a breakaway championship. Ecclestone explained: "They were the only team that broke ranks with the other manufacturers - why did they break ranks? That's where the $80 million comes in. We 'bought' Ferrari. We 'bought' Ferrari's loyalty. Our deal with Ferrari was that we 'bought' them so they would not go to the others."

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This might spark a n00bfest...

Good on you, Bernie, for speaking out. Great to finally hear what we've suspected for such a long time, too. It's a lot more simple than I thought it would be... if you can call $80 million simple.

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

Way to score an own goal, Ecclestone

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tripleM Wrote:
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> Way to score an own goal, Ecclestone

+1

If anything the team's should now form a break away series, Ferrari is getting too big headed for my liking.

Especially under this Luca dumbass

hes not a dumbass though, hes smart, thats why he gets 80m for not braking away, and mclaren doesn't

mika19b Wrote:
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> If anything the team's should now form a break
> away series, Ferrari is getting too big headed for
> my liking.

You think the other teams aren't aware of this, if it is indeed true?

No this doesn't happen. Ferrari are- Eh, who cares, everyone knows it happens every race

This was a well known fact since ferrari signed that agreement back then if anything Bernie is trying to break down the Fota alliance

Iceman-Kimi Wrote:
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> hes not a dumbass though, hes smart, thats why he
> gets 80m for not braking away, and mclaren doesn't
>

Sure it was smart in the financial sense, but it wasn't really a smart move for F1 in my view.

gav Wrote:
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> You think the other teams aren't aware of this, if
> it is indeed true?

They probably are aware of it but i think they should do something about it, especially in the current financial situation

Hardly...

£54mil is alot of money indeed Bernie is correct, Luca has no right to complain.

Im supprised this issue has not been addressed before. It bugs me that Bernie thinks Ferrari are worth this... Then again I hate Ferrari, well no I hate Jean Todt, and respect but dislike Ross Brawn for that matter but now neither play much of a role in Ferraris F1 side anymore.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

ever heard of fota chet?

...

Why would Bernie try to break it down though? Its probably the best group within F1!

What they do helps the sport and what hepls the sport helps him, wheres the logic?

Teams are always moaning about how much money is spread about, they would do themselves a massive favour not giving their drivers how much they do. Not one driver or sportsman for that matter is worth £10's of millions. Stop wasting your money on the biggest variable in the sport and spend it on something better.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

I thought it was known that the FIA give Ferrari more money than any other team? This doesn't surprise me in the slightest and it'll just lead to people claiming the FIA makes decisions biased towards Ferrari.

chet Wrote:
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> ...
>
> Why would Bernie try to break it down though? Its
> probably the best group within F1!

Thats easy to explain, bernie dosent care for the sport, hes in it for the moniez and if fota gets more money it would mean less cash for him, No Fota = More Money for Bernie, for us and the teams Fota is godsend but for the Fia and Fom is hell

Really?

But for the first time since I remember sport changing decisions are being made fairly and which are all agreed upon... Progress is the word. Before the FIA were making the silliest of regulations up like no wheels, no fuel blah blah! And not one of us liked it...

Everything FOTA has done so far imo apart from being good for the teams and sport is also good for the fans!! And we are what Bernie needs! I can understand the FIA disliking FOTA but I thought Bernie would be one to appreciate it!

I do not agree the teams should get more money but I do think they need to be properly informed of how the money is spent... Like I would very much like to know where Mclarens $100million went. Into Mad Max's games ?

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Ferrari are the biggest name in motorsports, Bernie cashes in BIG TIME by having the Ferrari name there. 80 million dollars is nothing.

thing is, could you actually see Ferrari putting their money where their mouth is and really leaving?

Very, very doubtful.

All threats.

They would not have the balls to leave, nowhere to go, nobody to or would follow them.


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

Not quite as much as a n00bfest as I'd expected yet then :P but still some fairly laughable comments.

What Chet doesn't seem to understand is that Ecclestone is threatened by FOTA. Why? Because traditionally Bernie gained control by divide and conquer tactics because the teams could barley agree on what brand crisps to have at meetings let alone on a set of regulations etc.

Now, they're seemingly agreeing on everything and speaking with a single voice, and Ecclestone's biggest weapon has been cast aside with a single stroke.

If all the teams are saying the same thing, then there is nothing to divide. And Ebi hit the nail on the head by saying that these comments are a blatant attempt to cause friction within the FOTA.

However... as has been pointed out the teams have always been aware that Ferrari received more than the rest, and Paul Stoddart even hinted that the teams them selves have to pay Ferrari to be in the sport (citation needed lol).

There is not going to be a fresh breakaway threat, it would be far too expensive to set up, and that isn't going to happen when all the manufacturers are selling less cars and are having to be seen to make cuts to keep face in the credit crunch.

I guess the problem is that while the $500m that the teams are getting now is insignificant relative to the budgets, there is a matter of the formula 1 holding company having to repay a $2.4bn loan by 2014 so there's actually very little money left to bargain for.

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Bernie shows just how far his senility has gone with these comments. Ferrari gets more dough, SO WHAT? WHO OFFERED THEM THAT DOUGH? BERNIE DID!

The teams had him by the balls the last go round, and he knew that if Ferrari got on board with a breakaway series they would have instant credibility.

Don't blame Luca di Montezemolo for having the smarts to beat Bernie at his own game. He's been a mover at Ferrari since the Lauda glory years, and IMO is the perfect guy to take over from Bernie, that is, after they pry the F1 leadership out of Bernie's cold, dead, hands.....



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