Bernie Ecclestone Wants to ‘Bury‘ FE to Save F1

In mid-2014, Alejandro Agag spearheaded the Formula E championship and it rose in popularity. The biggest difference was that it implemented all-electric-powered open-wheel race cars. In all honesty, electric cars are the future, while F1 is just behind the curve with its hybrid technology.

There were even suggestions that Formula E may challenge its counterpart. However, when he spoke to Autocar, former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, flatly denied such a claim. He also took a dig at current F1 owners, Liberty Media for not taking the FE challenge seriously.

He said, “I feel sorry for the guys running F1 now, as they have to consider the impact of Formula E. I would have buried it. It would have saved all the arguments. It wouldn’t have happened if I had been there. But now everyone is only talking about electric cars, so it would be a bit of a courageous thing now to go against it.”

What else did Bernie Ecclestone say?

The 89-year old also spoke about electric car giants, Tesla and its legacy. Suffice to say, he is not too impressed and declared that Tesla does not have as big a legacy as the likes of Ferrari.

He said, “I think Tesla will one day be forgotten. Ferrari will never be forgotten. Other people will make electric cars. They are a leader today, but they won’t be special soon.”

The current grid could be considered a mini-F1 championship, owing to the presence of many ex-F1 drivers. The list of former F1 racers include Felipe Massa, Stoffel Vandoorne, Sebastian Buemi, Pascal Wehrlein and many more.

In addition to that, all FE champions are ex F1 drivers. They are, Nelson Piquet Jr, Buemi, Lucas Di Grassi and two-time Formula E Drivers’ champion Jean-Eric Vergne.

Some call Formula E the future of motor racing. However, Formula One Group CEO, Chase Carey has called the series more of a “street party“.