Middlemore vs. Ecclestone

Dear Bernie Ecclestone:

Firstly let me say how grateful I am of what you have done for the sport. You've managed to boost the sport and its popularity more than anyone would of dared to believe 30 years ago. You were one of the key men that has helped to push safety and kick the circuits into shape from their old lazy habits (I've read your unofficial biography, good stuff!) But lets be honest: right now things are far from perfect.

I’ll start on with Formula1.com. See I remember the old unofficial site, good little thing that was. And yours is very nice too but its a bit well, how do I say this? Basic. Now don't get me wrong I’d be lost without live timing see when those damn advert breaks. Come on, I’d have no idea if my favourite driver had just blown up. All I would be aware of is how a breakfast cereal has "whole grain" or what bank is doing its bit for global warming. Not really, what I care about at that moment of time. But you see, other sites and sports have race replays or best bits. Video clips you can download on your mobile! Your site offers a text and picture pack for $98.25 (£47) and that’s a lot of money really for whats on offer. I see i could just get the text pack for $62.71 (£30) But why would I want to do that? There is no point texting me to tell me whats going on in the race, Im sitting here watching the thing. And $261for a cap, If you have $261 to blow on a cap your probably too posh to actually ever wear it. I doubt you could turn up to the ambassadors function wearing it (saying that Niki Lauda gets away wearing that old red thing so why not eh? Set fashion not follows!) So please Bernie old boy get with the times.

Now I noticed you have had another pop at Silverstone saying it needs to get its act together. But I think you’re being a bit harsh. You see, there are a lot worse circuits. Seeing from a fan’s point of view, all we want at the British track is grandstands with roofs and not to wait 2 days to get off the circuit. They have gone a good way to doing this with that big bypass to help speeding things up. It seems to me that when you talk about better facilities you mean more posh building to entertain your multi millionaire guests, who probably don't watch the race anyway. Now lets look at the circuits we currently have. Wait facilities how does Brazil compare to Bahrain? It’s no where near as good is it? But of course, that protected under some kind of agreement to protect special venues. And so it should, it has a charm all of its own. But don't you think Silverstone deserves that? After all, it hosted the first ever F1 race back in 1950. Doesn't that give it some special right? As you may have seen the race at the weekend produced something called overtaking. Now Monaco, a race that you would think overtaking is banned. Surely that can go? Oh wait… that’s the favorite rich peoples’ event. So we have to forget that the cars have outgrown the circuit, and watch the things go round all stuck behind each other, even if the car behind is 10 seconds a lap quicker. But please find it in your heart somewhere to keep it on the calender. That Lewis guy is doing really well at the moment and it would be an awful shame if he had no home race to come back to. I also know that things between you and that Tony George feller aren't as great as you would like. You've been trying to crack the USA for a while now, I guess it doesn't help that the teams decided they didn't want to play in 2005 and upset a few thousand fans, not the best way to promote your product is it? But come on mate, you can’t say you don't need the US because it’s just mean. Tactics like that may have worked in the past, but these guys have NASCAR and 2 single seater formulas that were one but split or something. Plus don't insult their women drivers like you did last year, calling the "Domestic Appliances". It is not a winner. People remember comments like that, trust me.

I see also you are pushing for your night races. You put the pinch on Melbourne to go along with it, and Singapore is already hosting one. But really it’s not going to be night racing properly in a Le Mans sense. A totally flood lit track costing the organizers a hell of a lot to put on won’t improve the racing. It’s like trying to rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic. There are bigger problems here than what time we race. You also want to do this, I believe, because of the time zones; not many people will get up at 4am to watch the race in Europe where the main F1 audience is. Well, the only idea I have on that one is stage the races in Europe?!

Here are a few of my suggestions:

Firstly, just get your mate Max Mosley to get rid of all the stupid winglets that are all over the cars.

Secondly, take the 19,000 RPM limit off. It sounds awful and looks stupid when a car gets into a slip stream to pass, but it can’t gather anymore speed because it’s bouncing off an imposed rev limit. It just makes overtaking harder.

Thirdly, choose wide tracks with big stops and elevation in them. It gives the circuit character and room to pass. I hope the street circuit you chose at Valencia is wide because we don't need two “Monaco Bore Fests”.

My fourth, and favorite, suggestion is this: Set the calendar for when it is most likely to rain not the other way round. With the aerodynamics the way they are, we need more wet races. Look at Hungary last year, it rained for the first time ever on raceday and we had... a race! Like I said earlier get roofs on the grandstands and it'll be fine. Those who turn up to watch the race won’t mind standing under an umbrella, if there is action every lap, people won’t even notice the weather. See everyone’s a winner!

Finally, on my list is ban refueling. Then they'll have to pass on track rather than waiting for the other guy to pit in. Even more racing!

Thank you for reading my letter Mr. E. I know you’re a busy guy, another day another dollar eh? I won’t keep you another moment. Please take my ideas on board, thanks!


Andy Middlemore
middlemore283@hotmail.com
azines.com Formula 1 Columnlist

PS. Oh yeah don't sue me, please. Cheers!