Bernie Ecclestone says Mercedes fans aren’t as loyal as Ferrari fans
’TIS the season to be jolly, but Mercedes fans won’t be sending Bernie Ecclestone any Christmas cards this silly season.
The F1 boss had a sly jab at the reigning champions’ fans, saying the team would always enjoy the favour of supporters when they are winning, but when times are tough, their fans won’t be so keen to hang around.
Instead, the 85-year-old lavished praise on Ferrari’s supporters, saying they were more loyal than their rival’s brigade.
“Ferrari have an incredible fan base even when they lose,” he told German publication Motorsport Magazine. “You don’t find that with Mercedes. If they begin to lose, then you’ll see what happens.
“I think Mercedes are running a risk — the public thinks that, with the money they spend, they should be winning. They don’t get any genuine sympathy. And you need that sympathy. People need to feel a bit sorry for a team.
“If Mercedes stop winning, I don’t think that many people will feel any sympathy for them.”
Mercedes finished atop the 2015 Constructor Standings, 275 points clear of second-placed Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton, who joined Mercedes in 2013, claimed his third world championship — and his second in a row — in 2015, while teammate Nico Rosberg finished as this year’s runner-up.
Much like the world’s biggest football clubs, Mercedes has gained a reputation as a team that will spare no expense in the pursuit of glory. While that’s a perfectly reasonable approach when the results are going your way, it leaves rival fans will little reason to appreciate their success, as they view Mercedes as buying trophies.
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This also means that even those who cheer on Hamilton and Rosberg at the track expect nothing but the best given the extensive resources at Mercedes’ disposal, so even the smallest stuff-ups would be reason to look elsewhere for a team to support.
In other F1 news, Australian Daniel Ricciardo revealed he is wary of organising future career plans beyond 2016 because he doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as fellow driver Fernando Alonso.
The 26-year-old had an awful 2015, finishing eighth in the Drivers Championship behind teammate Danil Kyvat. It was symptomatic of Red Bull’s tumultuous year, the team finishing fourth in the Constructor Standings after failing to win a race for the first time since 2008.
But just because his contract with Red Bull expires at the end of 2016, it doesn’t mean he is looking to jump ship anytime soon.
“It’s something I have to play by ear,” Ricciardo was quoted as saying by ESPN UK. “In 2017 there are a lot of rule changes and the last thing I want to do is an Alonso, jumping ship and then the ship you’ve left is the one you want to be on.
“In an ideal world I will stay at Red Bull and we will find the dominance again. But that’s something for later in the season.”
Alonso left Ferrari for McLaren before the start of this year — a disastrous decision as his new team finished ninth in the Constructor Standings while Ferrari finished second. It meant the Spaniard placed 17th in the championship race, a far cry from his sixth placed finish in 2014.
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/m...et-feeling-over-record-4-8-million-entry-fee/
The F1 boss had a sly jab at the reigning champions’ fans, saying the team would always enjoy the favour of supporters when they are winning, but when times are tough, their fans won’t be so keen to hang around.
Instead, the 85-year-old lavished praise on Ferrari’s supporters, saying they were more loyal than their rival’s brigade.
“Ferrari have an incredible fan base even when they lose,” he told German publication Motorsport Magazine. “You don’t find that with Mercedes. If they begin to lose, then you’ll see what happens.
“I think Mercedes are running a risk — the public thinks that, with the money they spend, they should be winning. They don’t get any genuine sympathy. And you need that sympathy. People need to feel a bit sorry for a team.
“If Mercedes stop winning, I don’t think that many people will feel any sympathy for them.”
Mercedes finished atop the 2015 Constructor Standings, 275 points clear of second-placed Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton, who joined Mercedes in 2013, claimed his third world championship — and his second in a row — in 2015, while teammate Nico Rosberg finished as this year’s runner-up.
Much like the world’s biggest football clubs, Mercedes has gained a reputation as a team that will spare no expense in the pursuit of glory. While that’s a perfectly reasonable approach when the results are going your way, it leaves rival fans will little reason to appreciate their success, as they view Mercedes as buying trophies.
This also means that even those who cheer on Hamilton and Rosberg at the track expect nothing but the best given the extensive resources at Mercedes’ disposal, so even the smallest stuff-ups would be reason to look elsewhere for a team to support.
In other F1 news, Australian Daniel Ricciardo revealed he is wary of organising future career plans beyond 2016 because he doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as fellow driver Fernando Alonso.
The 26-year-old had an awful 2015, finishing eighth in the Drivers Championship behind teammate Danil Kyvat. It was symptomatic of Red Bull’s tumultuous year, the team finishing fourth in the Constructor Standings after failing to win a race for the first time since 2008.
But just because his contract with Red Bull expires at the end of 2016, it doesn’t mean he is looking to jump ship anytime soon.
“It’s something I have to play by ear,” Ricciardo was quoted as saying by ESPN UK. “In 2017 there are a lot of rule changes and the last thing I want to do is an Alonso, jumping ship and then the ship you’ve left is the one you want to be on.
“In an ideal world I will stay at Red Bull and we will find the dominance again. But that’s something for later in the season.”
Alonso left Ferrari for McLaren before the start of this year — a disastrous decision as his new team finished ninth in the Constructor Standings while Ferrari finished second. It meant the Spaniard placed 17th in the championship race, a far cry from his sixth placed finish in 2014.
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/m...et-feeling-over-record-4-8-million-entry-fee/
