Ecclestone wants to get rid of the 2014 V6 Turbo
After hearing the sound of the future V6 Turbo engines, which are expected to equip F1 cars from 2014, Bernie Ecclestone is still not convinced of the necessity of this new engine and even suggests that the FIA could get rid of it. The Briton also confirms that the Federation is considering overhauling the team's registration fee system.
After the German magazine Auto Motor Und Sport recently reported that Bernie Ecclestone came out of a visit to Maranello delighted with the sound produced by the future Ferrari V6, it seems, however, that the Briton, who has always fiercely opposed the new engine, hasn’t changed his mind: « I heard the sound of the engines in Maranello the other day, the new engine and the current one, and even Luca di Montezemolo [President of Ferrari, ed.] said the sound was awful and he didn’t like it, » says the octogenarian in the columns of the Hindustan Times.
Therefore, Bernie Ecclestone sees no future for the V6 Turbo and even expects Jean Todt, the current FIA president, to get rid of it: I think Luca [di Montezemolo] also said that we should suspend it for two or three years. I believe it would be reasonable to get rid of it and stick with the one we currently have. It is cheaper than the new one, probably at 30% of the price.
Bernie Ecclestone does not hesitate to blame the FIA for coming up with the idea of this stupid engine, but he absolves Jean Todt by pinning the blame on his predecessor at the head of the Federation, Max Mosley: “It really wasn’t Todt’s fault, it was Mosley who launched the engine. Todt didn’t really interfere with us. He traveled around the world and met with the different federations, but he didn’t bother us.”
The chief financial officer of Formula One also confirms that the FIA has indeed requested that the entry fees for the world championship be increased in order, as read in the Hindustan Times, to find more prestigious premises for their headquarters and thus to give themselves a stature comparable to FIFA or the IOC. Bernie Ecclestone sees no objection to this: I think it would be nice to have a Federation that appears strong and impressive. They cannot ask us for money because they don’t have the right to do so. It’s more about whether we want to contribute to help them build the FIA. If they really need this money, we will probably help them.
It remains to be seen, however, under what conditions Bernie Ecclestone would provide financial aid to the FIA, as it is rarely without strings attached from the Briton…
