Ecclestone, the 80 year-old chief executive of Formula
One, has no such worries. “It’s a wonderful idea,” he told The Daily
Telegraph at Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix. “It’s what Silverstone need. They
need to let the professionals run it.
“The new owners will put proper people in, commercialise it and run it
properly. I don’t have any problem with it at all. They will get the job
done. They won’t muck around.”
Ecclestone, who has a history of run-ins with the BRDC and tried to move the
race to nearby Donington Park a few years ago, added that yesterday’s
inaugural grand prix at the $400 million Buddh International Circuit was the
perfect illustration of why it is futile to stand in the way of progress.
“People in Europe have got to understand that Europe will be sold to the
Chinese or India or these people in the Middle East,” he said. “It is
gradually happening now.
“We are in no position to compete and this circuit here in India is a good
example. This is private enterprise here. There is no government money but
these people got on and did it. We [in Europe] sit back and hope it will
happen — these people get on with it.”