Ecclestone has announced this morning that he will be giving up his ownership of Formula One and is handing it to former F1 driver Niki Lauda. This news comes after the sport came in for a huge amount of criticism from the fans. He has apologized for the mess F1 is in saying: “I have decided to step down after leading this sport in the wrong direction and its time for change”
Lauda has promised to listen to the fans and will be holding a survey later this month to ask the fans what direction they would like to sport to go in. He has suggested a massive change in the technical regulations for 2017, going back to more open rules and exciting racing.
We are still unsure of the details of this deal and whether Ecclestone is stepping out of Formula One completely. Will this decision improve F1 or could it just break the sport apart even more? Toto Wolff has commented that:
“Lauda was a great driver and is a great asset to our team, however to run a sport as big as Formula One? I don’t think he can.”
Sebastian Vettel has also raised the concern that F1 may lose its focus and in trying to please the fans it might instead just ruin the sport and turn it into an entertainment show. However, he has backed the decision to go back to turbocharged V10 engines, as used in the 80s.
What a surprise this has been, for 1st April. I wonder why….