Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

'Mercedes makes the racing boring' - Ecclestone

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Bernie Ecclestone says Sebastian Vettel needs to win the title next year because Mercedes' dominance of Formula One "is not good for the sport".

Mercedes has been the dominant force since the new power unit regulations were introduced in 2014, with Lewis Hamilton taking back-to-back drivers' championships and the team winning the constructors' titles. With both championships secured with three races still to run this season, Ecclestone says the level of performance is damaging for F1.

"It is not good for the sport," Ecclestone told Die Welt. "It makes it boring. The dominance of Mercedes is so great that many people only view the start of a Grand Prix, and then turn off the television because Mercedes makes the racing boring."

And Ecclestone believes it is crucial Ferrari's recovery continues in to 2016 due to its importance to the sport.

"Ferrari happens to be Formula 1, and Formula 1 is Ferrari. This is a marriage that has been around a long time, which was always renewed and must continue."

Asked if Vettel needs to bring an end to Mercedes' run next season with Ferrari, Ecclestone replied: "I hope so."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.