That also fits into what I think of as his view of F1 as a show for paying spectators rather than a sport. All you really need is a crew of employees to take the F1 Circus from venue to venue and put on a glamorous show (centered around a bit of racing) for the paying customers. But a crew of employees capable of a proper F1 show would cost a lot of money so you need to let others spend their own money on the racing side of things. Plus only the largest, most moneyed teams can afford to bring all the stuff that his best paying customers think is important so let them carry the load and let the teams with less money go back to GP2.
Here's another bit of insight re Bernie's perspective. It's all about marketing and selling things...but only expensive things. If you're not interested in banking and can't afford a Rolex, Bernie isn't interested in you as a fan of F1. Ecclestone: No point chasing young fans (gpupdate.net)
Pretty much. It seems we've gone straight past Silly Season and right through Stupid Season and beyond.....
Where does he think the new YOUNG drivers are coming from? How many 70 year olds are out there with that kind of money! (that like racing) Their spending that money on 20 year olds girls.
He should be trying to attract people to the racing, young AND old, for the sake of the racing, but he isn't interested in that. He may have been, decades ago, but not anymore. The racing is just a means to an end and only needs to be attractive enough to interest people who have money to burn and are already fans of racing (and/or fans of the glamor they expect from F1) so he can keep his big money sponsors happy. This also means F1 needs to have a particular type of appeal (as defined by Bernie and his rich cronies) given his myopic view of what "people with money" want to see at a race. Also, and despite what he says, I don't think Bernie hates new media just because he's old. Well...not entirely. I bet the main reason he's so anti-new media is he knows that's where many of us get information and other access in ways he can't easily control. TV contracts are simple (or relatively so) and guarantee big money while figuring out how to control access via hundreds or thousands of other media sources means lots more work and significant potential for less money with which to line his pockets, all collected at more of a nickle and dime pace.
Check out this snip (from this excellent article by Nigel Roebuck - long but worth the read) with a spot-on quote from Ken Tyrrell.
So much said in this short and to the point statement... “I leave Scuderia Ferrari after five years, during which I reached my very best level professionally, tackling major challenges that pushed me to find new limits.†– Fernando Alonso