Ecclestone now sees brighter future for F1 following Geneva meetings

Following last Tuesday's meeting in Geneva where teams agreed on the outline of new regulations and a change to the qualifying format, Bernie Ecclestone believes the sport's future is now brighter.

Formula 1's supremo delivered a more positive view, just a few days after expressing a 'doom and gloom' outlook in which he thought the sport was the worst it had been and he would not buy tickets for his family to watch races.

"I think now I’d be a bit more confident that we are going to see some good racing," said the 85-year-old. "Then I’ll be happy."

Speaking about the new qualifying format, Ecclestone admitted that while he would have preferred a more radical change, based on a time-penalty or reversed grid scheme, the decision by the teams was a step in the right direction, and that there would be more changes to come.

"I think there’s lots of things we can do and will be doing," he said.

"What people needed was a bit of a shake-up. I seem to be the only person that has thought we should do something in Formula 1, to wake everybody up a little bit. And maybe that’s what’s happened.

"I wasn’t talking down the sport at all, quite the opposite. I was trying to sort of explain that unless we did something, that’s the way we’d be going."

Ecclestone's main view was that the sport needed to reduce the routine dominance of one team, or indeed the control exerted by Mercedes and Ferrari which between them supply 8 of the 11 teams with power units.

"It’s no good just seeing Mercedes in the front, without any competition. That’s what I complained about.

"I want the public to enjoy Formula 1. I want them to go to a race and not be able to say before they go, ‘I’m sure) Hamilton is going to win’. I don’t want that."

Ecclestone also clarified his recent remarks over FIA President Jean Todt, labeling the Frenchman 'a diplomat who should hand over running F1 to someone else'.

"What was intended is that he is very busy doing the road safety and things like that and for him, or me, to spend a whole day at these meetings knowing full well we are going to achieve nothing before the meeting starts, is just not on.

"The moment the way we are structured … where Ferrari and Mercedes can get together and their teams will have to follow them when they vote, is not good. We don’t need two F1 teams running Formula 1. They are competitors."

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