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F1 'not a business' under Ecclestone - Bratches

Sean Bratches says Formula 1 is working hard to improve.

Last week, Liberty Media's F1 commercial boss agreed with Fernando Alonso that a lack of track excitement was a big problem for the sport.

'There was no business'

But he says moves are afoot to get things right, after a long period of stagnation during Bernie Ecclestone's regime.

READ: F1 set to announce new engine rules

"There was no business. No digital structure, no market research, nothing. There was no strategy, only Bernie Ecclestone.

Actually, you have to have a lot of respect for how he managed to do it at all. But it's also clear that F1 survived in the 21st century but did not grow. Now we are building it up for the long term.

The best days of F1 are yet to come," Bratches told Bild newspaper.

'First we crawl, then we walk'

Some are sceptical. Liberty's new 'F1TV' streaming service, for instance, began with huge technical glitches.

"We're trying to turn F1 from a motor sport into an entertainment brand that puts racing at the centre. Let's not have any misconceptions - we are now a media and entertainment group," says Bratches.

He would not comment on whether the entire race weekend format needs to be changed.

"Let's see. First we crawl, then we walk and then we start to run. Market research is currently underway on the topic. Ross and his team will handle it," said Bratches.

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