Bernie Ecclestone has officially stepped down from his position as the chief executive of Formula One, a position which he has held for four decades. There are mixed emotions among the Formula One community, as he has been blamed for much of the sport’s failure in the recent years.
Born in 1930, Ecclestone dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to work testing gas purity at a local gasworks. Having studied chemistry at Greenwich University, Ecclestone used his passion for motorcycles to buy and sell spare parts during his lunch break after the end of World War II. He later partnered with Fred Compton to make the Compton & Ecclestone motorcycle dealership. Following the success of the business, Ecclestone bought Compton’s share in the business and grow the business to be one of the biggest motorcycle dealers in Britain.
Ecclestone began a racing career in Formula 3, but his focus was shifted towards the business world after he suffered a big crash at Brands Hatch in 1949. He returned to motorsport in 1957 as the manager of Stuart Lewis-Evans. Using funds he had earned from some profitable real estate investments, Ecclestone purchased cars from the Connaught team to enter two races. He took one of the three cars and got behind the wheel for the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, with Bruce Kessler and Paul Emery in the other two cars. None of the drivers qualified for the event. He had also hired Jack Fairman and Ivor Bueb for the 1958 British Grand Prix, but both cars suffered early failures.
Ecclestone continued to guide Lewis-Evans, helping him to get a drive for the Vanwall team. Lewis-Evans’ engine seized during the Moroccan Grand Prix, creating a high speed fiery crash. Lewis-Evans was transported to the hospital, but died several days later. Vanwall withdrew from the sport and Ecclestone also vanished from motorsport for several years.
However, he later formed a friendship with Roy Salvadori who was running the Cooper team. This allowed him to meet an Austrian Formula One driver named Jochen Rindt, later leading to a partnership, as Ecclestone became his manager. During this time, Ecclestone was heavily involved with the management of the Lotus Formula 2 team. However, Ecclestone disappeared from motorsport once again following the death of Jochen Rindt at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix.
He returned to Formula One in 1972, having purchased the Brabham team for approximately $120,000. He joined forces with Colin Chapman, Teddy Mayer, Max Mosley, Ken Tyrrell and Frank Williams in 1974 to form the Formula One Constructors Association. Ecclestone led the association into a battle with the FIA over the commercial rights to the sport and was named the chief executive of the association.
With the team having lost their sponsor, Ecclestone sold Brabham for over $5m in 1987 to Alfa Romeo. He then formed what is now called the Formula One Management. The company received 23% of the TV revenue, with 47% going to the teams and the remaining 30% going to the FIA. The company also collected all of the fees paid by the event organizers in exchange for offering the prize money for the races. In 1995, full commercial rights were given to FOM in exchange for an annual fee to the FIA, but unfortunately cutting teams out of the profits.
The agreement wasn’t signed until 1996, with McLaren, Williams and Tyrrell refusing to sign the agreement. However, the remaining three teams signed the agreement in 1998, having lost income and influence in the sport. When the agreement later expired, Ecclestone offered a payout to the teams for renewing the agreement. It was renewed again in 2013, valid until the end of 2020.
Ecclestone has been involved in various controversies throughout his career. In 1997 he was opposed to the ban on tobacco advertising. His views on women in motorsport have been looked down upon. In 2000 and 2015, he stated that women would never excel in Formula One and later insulted IndyCar driver Danica Patrick in 2005. He praised Adolf Hitler’s leadership style during an interview in 2009. In 2013, he was charged with bribery, although the case was settled after Ecclestone paid £60m. He has also been investigated for £1.2b worth of tax evasion for many years. He has been blamed in the recent years for the poor media coverage of Formula One, as well as the majority of the bad rule changes.
However, Ecclestone has also done a lot of good for the sport over the years. Most notably, he was helpful in increasing the safety of the sport, decreasing the amount of deaths in the sport. He hired Sib Watkins as the official Formula One medical doctor in 1978. He was also originally helpful to the teams in getting some revenue from the TV rights.
Love him or hate him, the 86 year old British businessman has been an iconic face in the Formula One paddock for nearly half a century. Bernie Ecclestone has officially stepped down from his position as the Formula One chief executive.
Thank you for your years of commitment to the world of Formula One, Mr. Ecclestone. We wish you the best.
