Ecclestone would keep current rules for three years

Jamie Woodhouse
Bernie Ecclestone would delay the new Formula 1 rules for three years.

Bernie Ecclestone would delay the new Formula 1 rules for three years.

Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has said that he would keep the series’ current regulations for another three seasons.

Initially new sporting, technical and financial regulations were set to be introduced for the 2021 campaign, aimed at making Formula 1 more competitive and affordable.

But with the coronavirus pandemic meaning that the 2020 season hasn’t yet started, it’s no surprise that the new regulations have been delayed until 2022.

Ecclestone would have gone further than that though and believes the current owners Liberty Media, who took over from the Ecclestone regime in January 2017, should delay the changes for three years.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “I wouldn’t change the rules for three years.

“Liberty need to completely reshape things. The biggest change I would make is to create a teams’ championship. You would still have the Drivers’ Championship for everyone and a Constructors’ Championship for the big four or whatever.

“Then I would give the less well-off teams two chassis, two engines for the season and let them run for £30m a year [Ferrari and Mercedes spend more than 10 times that].

“I would then have rules and regulations — taking in the weight of the cars and engine capacity — that I knew full well meant the teams with that sort of budget would have a good chance of getting on the podium and with luck win a race.

“At the end of the year the team that has done best on that budget would win the teams’ championship.”

With such ideas still flowing through Ecclestone’s mind, it was no surprise that the familiar question popped up about his future and whether or not another stint at the helm of Formula 1 could be on the cards.

But his response was clear, it was an emphatic “no chance”.

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