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Anyone read this cute little story about Bernie getting Flavio to invest in QPR? I bet some will be jumping on the story now saying that Gianni did not bring either of them to the club afterall or would that be too stupid? 
Gulf News - By Ted Macauley, Special to Gulf News
Published: October 03, 2009
'I have highest praise for Abu Dhabi'
Formula One powerbroker Bernie Ecclestone sits in his luxurious office in London, isolated by his power and privilege, the unchallenged kingpin of a Formula One empire that has fallen into disarray.
It has been a fraught few months, what with his costly divorce from his wife Slavica, the machinations of mighty Ferrari looking to defy the proposed budget-cap and any rule change, McLaren's illegal holding of Ferrari secrets, and now, worst of all, the shame of his friend and business partner Flavio Briatore who has been banned for life for his leading role in the Renault "Crashgate" scandal.
He sighs at my reminders of the various furore and says: " Many aspects of life are sent to try us and to test our patience and resolve, but I've been through enough traumas and dramas in my job not to let this latest run unnerve me or put me off what basically is a great sport.
"What has happened with Flavio and Renault is awful and very wrong and he deserves to be punished - maybe not as severely as he has been - but we shall overcome the setbacks and get on with the job of putting on a good show for the fans worldwide.
"I am well aware that I am regarded as hard, uncompromising and uncaring and that I am driven by money. I don't care.
"There are plenty of people in F1 who are very wealthy because of the way I am and my attitude to business and the sport. And they should be thankful for the positions I have taken - not always popular - over the years to give F1 an international profile.
"Of course, I have been a beneficiary, but so have the teams, and that includes Ferrari who have been idiotic in their stand against the proposed cost capping which was planned to benefit the sport."
What about his seemingly endless run-ins with Silverstone as the venue for the British Grand Prix and the ongoing problems and stuttering cash flow that are hampering Donington Park as a replacement?
He has been heavily criticised for his stoical stance over Silverstone - the old wartime aerodrome and midlands setting for the British Grand Prix and its annual audience of 200,000 spectators.
He says: "It's more like a gentlemen's club, all blazers and badges and old-fashioned views and stranded outdated tradition. I'd like to see it refurbished, given a complete overhaul of its facilities and rendered fit for the fans who are so loyal and who have endured so much misery for too many years.. But those who should be making the decisions seem to be jammed in a time-warp, stuck in a rut and not going anywhere. It reminds me of an annual village fete, amateurish and third rate.
"They should take a good look at the circuits and set-ups in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. They are both state-of-the-art tracks that have been only too keen to please and make sure the spectators get great value for their ticket money.
"I have nothing but the highest praise for the people behind both venues. They have been absolutely brilliant, a total treat to deal with, and have achieved everything I have asked without a single word of disagreement. Unlike Silverstone who have dragged their feet for years and deserve to lose the grand prix. The public should not forget when I am having a go and get frustrated, it is their interests I have at heart.
"It would be absolutely terrific if this season's championship goes all the way down the last race in Abu Dhabi, as it could well do, because that would make for a fantastic and fitting finale and bring the curtain down on a fabulous show at a superb setting. That would be well deserved by all those people who have put in so much hard work and stayed right on target.
"I for one am really looking forward to the Abu Dhabi date and I know all the drivers, too, can't wait. They love a fresh challenge and that is what they will face when day turns into night and they are really going for it.
"Sponsors, too, with an eye on providing ultra-comfortable conditions and first-class facilities for their mega-money investors will, I am certain, find the set-up fully up to their hopes and expectations."
Ecclestone's own high standards means he has an unbending attitude to slackers and this is finely illustrated in a story he laughingly tells me.
"I was having a few jobs done here at HQ and I discovered some of the workmen were skiving off to the lavatory outside my office and staying in there for ages.
"I found out that they were either doing crosswords or reading the horse racing pages and writing out bets for the bookmakers. The bottom line was they were wasting my time, costing me money and hanging around on the job for much longer than they needed to. They were slackers - and I hate that. If I pay somebody to do something I expect them to get on with it and not take the mickey.
"I worked out a plan to foil them. I fitted a short-stage light in the toilet, which had no windows, so it went out after only a few minutes and plunged them into total darkness. It soon stopped them dodging off in my time. Another thing is that I can't stand an office that is not tidy and uncluttered. That's why I won't allow my staff to dry their damp clothes or drenched umbrellas on the radiators when they come in from the rain."
Ecclestone's insatiable work ethic more than likely cost him his marriage to the glorious Slavica, a former fashion model, whom he met at the Italian Grand Prix, and from whom he split earlier this summer with a billion-pound settlement.
"I am devoted to my job, I can't begin to explain just how much satisfaction and total pleasure it gives me.
"That enthusiasm and workload may have cost me my marriage, but that is just the way I am and I neither can nor want to change it.
"When I am in London I regularly put in 12 to 14 hours a day behind my desk at the office," the 78-year-old tells me.
"I only take about half-an-hour for a lunch break.
"I fly around the world in my own jet, not for fun but as the frontman for F1 with great responsibility and concern for the continuing well-being of a good number of people and the sport which I have nurtured so painstakingly.
"Right from being a kid hard work has never scared me off. Quite the opposite. I've thrived on it. However tough the job or the task I'll face up to it and give it my best shot and all the time and effort it may need. I've never been any different. Never will.
"And anybody in my workzone who slacks off or fails to live up to my expectations gets the rough end of my temper. I won't have people wastefully costing me time and money.
"One of my great joys this last year has been working with the Abu Dhabi people and watching them get on with it with pride and determination to make sure they do an admirable job that will make the circuit the envy of the world."
Then he adds without a trace of embarrassment: "Sure, my pays me good money, and it is common knowledge from the Rich List published in the UK that I am a double billionaire.
"I have my own jet, two in fact, a house in London, a lovely yacht, a hotel I bought in Switzerland and a comfortable lifestyle.
"But I pay all my taxes. I don't dodge anything and I expect other people to share my honesty and my sense of purpose. There are a lot of rich guys - and grateful wives and girlfriends - who are wealthy because of my efforts for this sport. A lot of people in good employment, too.
"I don't want the British government to give me a knighthood - I am happy to enjoy the rewards of doing a good job and having the appreciation of the people I work hard to try to please. I've lost count of the awards made over to me from royals and governments right around the world."
His late-in-life interest has been football, which was first nurtured through Chelsea and his big friend Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who bought the club, and then Queens Park Rangers, the London outfit he part owns at the moment with Briatore.
He reveals:" I persuaded Flavio to join me and put some money into buying QPR. It's an old established football team, but they had fallen on hard times.
"I did think about buying Chelsea, but it was too complicated a situation to sort out the books, and I didn't have the time to spare. Anyway, I'm so mean and tight-fisted I'd never have laid out the same amount of money on players that Abramovich has - so they got off lightly.
"Liverpool and Manchester United were up for sale and were considerations for investment but in the end I reasoned I lived too far away from both of them - more than 200 miles north. - to buy into teams so distant from my home in London. I didn't fancy the idea of traipsing up and down the country on top of all the travelling I do on F1 business.
"When I talked to Flavio with the proposal about buying QPR he thought I was talking about a restaurant. No joking! But he was just as excited as me when I told him it was a football team."Abramovich, who took up where I left off and bought Chelsea, has become a strong friend, and I often share his box at Stamford Bridge, or fly off in my own plane to watch them when they are playing in Europe.
"I never would have believed it, but I am real big football fan now. I used to say that if the two greatest teams in the world were playing in my back garden I wouldn't be bothered to watch them. Not now. I'm hooked on the game.
"Soccer is a sport about mega stars - just like Formula One.
"Just look at Michael Schumacher. What a superstar. Probably the greatest driver of all time; full of devotion and intent. What a hero! What a draw! If he had made the comeback for Ferrari that he was planning after his good friend Felipe Massa got hurt you would have been hard pressed to get tickets at any race in the world.
"He wasn't the most popular driver around, and certainly not the most charismatic, but he was an idol to millions just the same. No wonder. Seven world championships and 91 victories said it all about his unbelievable skill and self-belief.
"And while I'm talking about superstars and unique crowd-pullers what about David Beckham? Maybe I should try and buy him for QPR or, better yet, get one of the Formula One teams to give him a run-out. Maybe we could partner him with Valentino Rossi, my other hero - a brilliant motorbike racer and champion who I would guess could cut it in cars, too. Can you imagine?."
Take it easy, Bernie, take it easy...you are racing ahead. As usual.
-The author is a motorsport expert based in England .
Gulf News - By Ted Macauley, Special to Gulf News
Published: October 03, 2009
'I have highest praise for Abu Dhabi'
Formula One powerbroker Bernie Ecclestone sits in his luxurious office in London, isolated by his power and privilege, the unchallenged kingpin of a Formula One empire that has fallen into disarray.
It has been a fraught few months, what with his costly divorce from his wife Slavica, the machinations of mighty Ferrari looking to defy the proposed budget-cap and any rule change, McLaren's illegal holding of Ferrari secrets, and now, worst of all, the shame of his friend and business partner Flavio Briatore who has been banned for life for his leading role in the Renault "Crashgate" scandal.
He sighs at my reminders of the various furore and says: " Many aspects of life are sent to try us and to test our patience and resolve, but I've been through enough traumas and dramas in my job not to let this latest run unnerve me or put me off what basically is a great sport.
"What has happened with Flavio and Renault is awful and very wrong and he deserves to be punished - maybe not as severely as he has been - but we shall overcome the setbacks and get on with the job of putting on a good show for the fans worldwide.
"I am well aware that I am regarded as hard, uncompromising and uncaring and that I am driven by money. I don't care.
"There are plenty of people in F1 who are very wealthy because of the way I am and my attitude to business and the sport. And they should be thankful for the positions I have taken - not always popular - over the years to give F1 an international profile.
"Of course, I have been a beneficiary, but so have the teams, and that includes Ferrari who have been idiotic in their stand against the proposed cost capping which was planned to benefit the sport."
What about his seemingly endless run-ins with Silverstone as the venue for the British Grand Prix and the ongoing problems and stuttering cash flow that are hampering Donington Park as a replacement?
He has been heavily criticised for his stoical stance over Silverstone - the old wartime aerodrome and midlands setting for the British Grand Prix and its annual audience of 200,000 spectators.
He says: "It's more like a gentlemen's club, all blazers and badges and old-fashioned views and stranded outdated tradition. I'd like to see it refurbished, given a complete overhaul of its facilities and rendered fit for the fans who are so loyal and who have endured so much misery for too many years.. But those who should be making the decisions seem to be jammed in a time-warp, stuck in a rut and not going anywhere. It reminds me of an annual village fete, amateurish and third rate.
"They should take a good look at the circuits and set-ups in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. They are both state-of-the-art tracks that have been only too keen to please and make sure the spectators get great value for their ticket money.
"I have nothing but the highest praise for the people behind both venues. They have been absolutely brilliant, a total treat to deal with, and have achieved everything I have asked without a single word of disagreement. Unlike Silverstone who have dragged their feet for years and deserve to lose the grand prix. The public should not forget when I am having a go and get frustrated, it is their interests I have at heart.
"It would be absolutely terrific if this season's championship goes all the way down the last race in Abu Dhabi, as it could well do, because that would make for a fantastic and fitting finale and bring the curtain down on a fabulous show at a superb setting. That would be well deserved by all those people who have put in so much hard work and stayed right on target.
"I for one am really looking forward to the Abu Dhabi date and I know all the drivers, too, can't wait. They love a fresh challenge and that is what they will face when day turns into night and they are really going for it.
"Sponsors, too, with an eye on providing ultra-comfortable conditions and first-class facilities for their mega-money investors will, I am certain, find the set-up fully up to their hopes and expectations."
Ecclestone's own high standards means he has an unbending attitude to slackers and this is finely illustrated in a story he laughingly tells me.
"I was having a few jobs done here at HQ and I discovered some of the workmen were skiving off to the lavatory outside my office and staying in there for ages.
"I found out that they were either doing crosswords or reading the horse racing pages and writing out bets for the bookmakers. The bottom line was they were wasting my time, costing me money and hanging around on the job for much longer than they needed to. They were slackers - and I hate that. If I pay somebody to do something I expect them to get on with it and not take the mickey.
"I worked out a plan to foil them. I fitted a short-stage light in the toilet, which had no windows, so it went out after only a few minutes and plunged them into total darkness. It soon stopped them dodging off in my time. Another thing is that I can't stand an office that is not tidy and uncluttered. That's why I won't allow my staff to dry their damp clothes or drenched umbrellas on the radiators when they come in from the rain."
Ecclestone's insatiable work ethic more than likely cost him his marriage to the glorious Slavica, a former fashion model, whom he met at the Italian Grand Prix, and from whom he split earlier this summer with a billion-pound settlement.
"I am devoted to my job, I can't begin to explain just how much satisfaction and total pleasure it gives me.
"That enthusiasm and workload may have cost me my marriage, but that is just the way I am and I neither can nor want to change it.
"When I am in London I regularly put in 12 to 14 hours a day behind my desk at the office," the 78-year-old tells me.
"I only take about half-an-hour for a lunch break.
"I fly around the world in my own jet, not for fun but as the frontman for F1 with great responsibility and concern for the continuing well-being of a good number of people and the sport which I have nurtured so painstakingly.
"Right from being a kid hard work has never scared me off. Quite the opposite. I've thrived on it. However tough the job or the task I'll face up to it and give it my best shot and all the time and effort it may need. I've never been any different. Never will.
"And anybody in my workzone who slacks off or fails to live up to my expectations gets the rough end of my temper. I won't have people wastefully costing me time and money.
"One of my great joys this last year has been working with the Abu Dhabi people and watching them get on with it with pride and determination to make sure they do an admirable job that will make the circuit the envy of the world."
Then he adds without a trace of embarrassment: "Sure, my pays me good money, and it is common knowledge from the Rich List published in the UK that I am a double billionaire.
"I have my own jet, two in fact, a house in London, a lovely yacht, a hotel I bought in Switzerland and a comfortable lifestyle.
"But I pay all my taxes. I don't dodge anything and I expect other people to share my honesty and my sense of purpose. There are a lot of rich guys - and grateful wives and girlfriends - who are wealthy because of my efforts for this sport. A lot of people in good employment, too.
"I don't want the British government to give me a knighthood - I am happy to enjoy the rewards of doing a good job and having the appreciation of the people I work hard to try to please. I've lost count of the awards made over to me from royals and governments right around the world."
His late-in-life interest has been football, which was first nurtured through Chelsea and his big friend Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who bought the club, and then Queens Park Rangers, the London outfit he part owns at the moment with Briatore.
He reveals:" I persuaded Flavio to join me and put some money into buying QPR. It's an old established football team, but they had fallen on hard times.
"I did think about buying Chelsea, but it was too complicated a situation to sort out the books, and I didn't have the time to spare. Anyway, I'm so mean and tight-fisted I'd never have laid out the same amount of money on players that Abramovich has - so they got off lightly.
"Liverpool and Manchester United were up for sale and were considerations for investment but in the end I reasoned I lived too far away from both of them - more than 200 miles north. - to buy into teams so distant from my home in London. I didn't fancy the idea of traipsing up and down the country on top of all the travelling I do on F1 business.
"When I talked to Flavio with the proposal about buying QPR he thought I was talking about a restaurant. No joking! But he was just as excited as me when I told him it was a football team."Abramovich, who took up where I left off and bought Chelsea, has become a strong friend, and I often share his box at Stamford Bridge, or fly off in my own plane to watch them when they are playing in Europe.
"I never would have believed it, but I am real big football fan now. I used to say that if the two greatest teams in the world were playing in my back garden I wouldn't be bothered to watch them. Not now. I'm hooked on the game.
"Soccer is a sport about mega stars - just like Formula One.
"Just look at Michael Schumacher. What a superstar. Probably the greatest driver of all time; full of devotion and intent. What a hero! What a draw! If he had made the comeback for Ferrari that he was planning after his good friend Felipe Massa got hurt you would have been hard pressed to get tickets at any race in the world.
"He wasn't the most popular driver around, and certainly not the most charismatic, but he was an idol to millions just the same. No wonder. Seven world championships and 91 victories said it all about his unbelievable skill and self-belief.
"And while I'm talking about superstars and unique crowd-pullers what about David Beckham? Maybe I should try and buy him for QPR or, better yet, get one of the Formula One teams to give him a run-out. Maybe we could partner him with Valentino Rossi, my other hero - a brilliant motorbike racer and champion who I would guess could cut it in cars, too. Can you imagine?."
Take it easy, Bernie, take it easy...you are racing ahead. As usual.
-The author is a motorsport expert based in England .
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