Bernie Ecclestone: Of Sound Mind And Body?

I think the writing has been on the wall for a long time.

We've all been denying it, hoping we were the only people who could see it, but personally I think it's time we all admitted it.

Bernie Ecclestone has gone completely insane.

The warning signs have been there for a long time, if we're honest. Who else would purposely ignore the opinions of experts (or at least those more knowledgeable than themselves) resulting in a washout at Sepang.

Who would think that a medal system that simply rewarded winner was a good way to decide the the World Champion in (arguably) the world's most expensive sport?

Who would try to force this dictat upon the people it affects without doing something so basic as consulting the rule book to make sure it was actually legal?

Who would rip the sport they controlled away from its traditional heartland, where a vast majority of the teams are based, where a vast majority of the fanbase lives, where many of the sport's most famous names come from and where many of the most famous races were held?

Who would take away races from France (the nation that basically invented Grand Prix races, the clue to that is in the name Bernie) and threaten to take a race away from the country that was the birthplace of the last two world champions?

Hell, who would remove a race from the market where there is the most ground for F1 to gain, and where F1's manufacturers see their biggest markets. At least there were manufacturers in F1 before Bernie's increasingly maniacal ways intervened.

If I haven't made a compelling enough case already, consider two of the most recent episodes.

Firstly, what exactly are the merits of taking away an F1 race away from Monza, and taking it to a road course around Rome? Erm, nope, I can't think of any either.

Secondly, Bernie has come up with a way to increase overtaking. No, unfortunately this isn't anything to do with aerodynamics (and Bernie is a pretty aerodynamic guy (yes, that's a short joke)).

No. Bernie wants to put a "shortcut" in F1 tracks to allow faster cars to 'overtake'.

Now, give Bernie some credit, the idea is not completely without merit, they use a similar idea in European Rallycross, where a driver has to take a "joker lap" once every race, where he takes a slightly different (though not necessarily shorter) route.

Except it's not really overtaking, more like bypassing. Bypassing is fine for small towns where people have the money to afford the printer cartridges to produce endless "Bypass [insert you insular community of choice here] NOW!" posters.

It's not good for racing.

Though that said is these shortcuts could be worked into the track by a second turning on a roundabout I'd love to see the addition of indicators to F1 cars, and have the FIA punish drivers for poor lane selection, a late indication or not checking their mirrors.

So, that is my case. No man of sound mind and body would think any of these are actually good ideas.

Bernie is old, his time has come.

I suggest a campaign to have him declared unfit for purpose, and open a new, sane chapter in F1.