“It’s bloody dangerous,” Bernie Ecclestone disappointed with FIA’s decision to appoint a former Mercedes employee as the interim head of F1
Follow Us
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone recently gave his verdict on a move by FIA which, according to him, is “dangerous.” This comes after the authorities at FIA had a new appointment. Currently serving as the FIA’s interim head of Formula 1, Shalia-Ann Rao formerly served as Toto Wolff’s advisor at the Mercedes team. Although she began working for Mercedes in 2018, she had been employed by the FIA since Peter Bayer left.Nothing suggests that Rao’s hiring has anything to do with the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from a year ago, and a reason for the Australian’s departure has not yet been provided. Ecclestone was dissatisfied with the announcement as a result because he thought there might be a conflict of interest.
Watch: F1/FIA Grid penalty rule change..?!
Bernie thinks that because she worked with Toto Wolff and the Mercedes F1 team for so long, she probably is biased towards them. He even thinks that the new directive which came after the violent porpoising complaints by Mercedes was because of her. “It’s bloody dangerous,” GPBlog quoted him. “Toto started all this nonsense about the cars needing to change. She told them about the new directive, obviously. She worked with Toto for two or three years.”
Also read: Bernie Ecclestone reckons Toto Wolff is starting to lose patience with Lewis Hamilton
Bernie Ecclestone was in a similar situation years back.
Ecclestone recalls the period when, as the CEO of Formula One, he wished to appoint Luca di Montezemolo as president. Because Di Montezemolo was employed by Ferrari at the time, this was not permitted. The Brit claims that Mercedes and Rao’s condition is identical.
“I wanted to get Luca di Montezemolo as chairman of the company when I was running things. But the teams went mad because he was Ferrari’s man. It was seen as a conflict of interest, so how can she do this job?”
Mattia Binotto, the head of Ferrari, concurred with Ecclestone’s worries over the appointment back in Baku earlier this month; ”Certainly it’s a concern,” Binotto told reporters at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Stay Updated!
Gunaditya Tripathi
(274 Articles Published)