it is not april Ecclestone calls for separate F1 series for women
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/03/30/e...-women-report/
"Bernie Ecclestone is full of a lot of things that we won't list here, but suffice it to say that one of them is crazy ideas. And his latest would create a separate Formula One series for female drivers.
"I thought it would be a good idea to give them a showcase," the 84-year-old F1 chief told the Telegraph. "For some reason, women are not coming through - and not because we don't want them. Of course we do, because they would attract a lot of attention and publicity and probably a lot of sponsors."
The idea would be to have a separate race for women on Sunday ahead of the main event, and though sure to arouse some controversy, it may not be quite as outlandish as it seems at first. For one thing, grands prix already typically include support races from series like the Porsche Supercup or GP2. For another, Ecclestone has long been trying to cast F1 as something of a motorized Olympics, with races taking place around the world and a proposal to replace podium trophies with bronze, silver and gold medals – and at the Olympics, men and women compete in separate events.
The difficulty would be in trying to find enough qualified female drivers to actually make up a full grid. The most promising prospect would surely be Susie Wolff, test driver for the Williams team who became the first woman to take part in an F1 race weekend in 22 years when she participated in the practice session at the British Grand Prix last year. But Wolff told the Mirror that she wouldn't be even slightly interested in taking part in such a series. "First of all, I don't know where you'd find a full grid of female drivers who are good enough. Secondly, I have raced my whole career in motorsport as a normal competitor. Why would I ever look for a race where I was only competing against women?"
"
Ecclestone won’t let Wolff ‘kill’ F1
This probably deserves its own thread but it involves Bernie, and his forward thinking:
Quote:
The fact that some teams cannot see an urgent need for change, however, is a major frustration for Ecclestone.
“Usually, you can make up for your mistakes. But we are not even trying,” he said.
“We are sitting and waiting for formula one to disappear.”
Pointing his ire directly at Wolff, Ecclestone charged: “Toto can have a lovely inscription on his gravestone that says
‘I helped to kill formula one’.
http://www.inautonews.com/ecclestone...-wolff-kill-f1
Not that I disagree with what Bernie, and Max are saying, but
it's been happening on your watch Bernie! :idea:
In the FWIW dept, the US marketIncluding the Australian Grand Prix, which was the first race of the season, NBCSN’s 2015 F1 coverage is up 31% vs. 2014 through two races, and up 163% vs. 2013 through two races.