Publications
Partners
MELBOURNE, Australia - Bernie Ecclestone doesn't think sexy Susie Wolff will ever realise her dream of lining up on a Formula 1 grid.
Briton Wolff, whose Austrian husband Toto is Mercedes team chief and Williams co-owner, will need a full race super-licence to appear on Friday morningsat Silverstone and Hockenheim at the wheel of a Mercedes-powered Williams.
F1 chief executive Ecclestone, who once notoriously admitted he hoped the now 31-year-old would be "as quick in a car as she looks good out of" it, doubts Wolff will ever actually race.
CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR?
Ecclestone told the Sydney Morning Herald: "Susie Wolff is good, but will she ever be in a position to show how good she is? I doubt it.
"The big problem with a woman, even if she's good enough, is having the opportunity to show it because a team won't take a woman driver unless she comes with huge sponsorship.
"So you could have a very, very good woman driver and she would not get what she deserves."
A greater matter on Ecclestone's mind, though, is the sport's all-new turbo V6 era. He was fiercely critical of the move to quieter engines and will have heard with alarm the criticism in Melbourne of the "sewing machines on wheels".
Ecclestone added: "I think when all this started we thought it would attract manufacturers who make the size of engine we are using. F1 is entertainment - the trouble is that sometimes we forget that.
"These are the people who buy the tickets, turn on a TV, and produce the money so that the sport can grow."
FIA president Jean Todt, however, is just as fiercely dismissive of Ecclestone's and fans' concerns, insisting the matter will be all forgotten "after a few laps in Melbourne".
END OF 'DOUBLE POINTS'?
The Frenchman is, however, taking criticism of the highly controversial 'double points' idea for the season's finale much more seriously. As far as he is concerned the tweak to keep interest in the championship until the end is merely "a little change", far less significant than the "revolution" in F1's engine regulations.
Todt also admitted the federation was prepared to drop the 'double points' idea. "If it doesn't work, it is easy to get rid of for 2015," he told the UK's Daily Mail. "We will see if there is more interest at the end of the championship.
"If there isn't I will be the first to say let's go back to the way it was."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 F1 season – fresh reports every day.
Briton Wolff, whose Austrian husband Toto is Mercedes team chief and Williams co-owner, will need a full race super-licence to appear on Friday morningsat Silverstone and Hockenheim at the wheel of a Mercedes-powered Williams.
F1 chief executive Ecclestone, who once notoriously admitted he hoped the now 31-year-old would be "as quick in a car as she looks good out of" it, doubts Wolff will ever actually race.
CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR?
Ecclestone told the Sydney Morning Herald: "Susie Wolff is good, but will she ever be in a position to show how good she is? I doubt it.
"The big problem with a woman, even if she's good enough, is having the opportunity to show it because a team won't take a woman driver unless she comes with huge sponsorship.
"So you could have a very, very good woman driver and she would not get what she deserves."
A greater matter on Ecclestone's mind, though, is the sport's all-new turbo V6 era. He was fiercely critical of the move to quieter engines and will have heard with alarm the criticism in Melbourne of the "sewing machines on wheels".
Ecclestone added: "I think when all this started we thought it would attract manufacturers who make the size of engine we are using. F1 is entertainment - the trouble is that sometimes we forget that.
"These are the people who buy the tickets, turn on a TV, and produce the money so that the sport can grow."
FIA president Jean Todt, however, is just as fiercely dismissive of Ecclestone's and fans' concerns, insisting the matter will be all forgotten "after a few laps in Melbourne".
END OF 'DOUBLE POINTS'?
The Frenchman is, however, taking criticism of the highly controversial 'double points' idea for the season's finale much more seriously. As far as he is concerned the tweak to keep interest in the championship until the end is merely "a little change", far less significant than the "revolution" in F1's engine regulations.
Todt also admitted the federation was prepared to drop the 'double points' idea. "If it doesn't work, it is easy to get rid of for 2015," he told the UK's Daily Mail. "We will see if there is more interest at the end of the championship.
"If there isn't I will be the first to say let's go back to the way it was."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 F1 season – fresh reports every day.