“Big Teams Always Had a Bit of an Advantage”: F1 Megalomaniac Bernie Ecclestone Accused of Favoritism by “Rockstar” of F1

Formula 1 has always been a ruthless sport for drivers or teams. You win and get recognition, if you lose or falter, the door is wide open to exit. It is cut-throat competition at its finest. Often many teams and even big manufacturers have fallen prey to this aspect of F1. Although, Guenther Steiner believes the root cause of this political dynamic was the authoritative leadership of Bernie Ecclestone. The Haas boss analyzed and put forth his views on how the F1 megalomaniac Bernie affected the growth of teams in the past.

Speaking on F1’s Beyond the Grid Podcast, Steiner revealed his thoughts on Bernie’s management back in the day. He said, “Before, with Bernie [Ecclestone], the big teams always had a bit of an advantage, but for good reason. They were putting more [investing] into the sport, supplying power units and stuff like that.”

Guenther certainly feels better in the Stefano Domenicali regime, as he mentioned how transparent things have become relative to the Ecclestone era. This may be an accusation of favoritism against the former Formula 1 head honcho. Though, Steiner further explained how Bernie’s time differed from today.

The Italian-American boss further added, “I’m not criticizing what Bernie did. because they were different times. We always have to think about this: everything was different.”

Steiner explained how F1 has become much more popular today. In addition, even the prize money distribution is much more fair and equal to the smaller teams like Haas. This was perhaps lacking under Ecclestone’s management back then.

Guenther has been a “Rockstar” of the Formula 1 world in the past few years. Surely he would want to someday take his team closer to the top in F1. Though, for now, he feels it is crucial for the balance of the political dynamic to not slip away from the smaller teams.

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Steiner’s reference to big teams includes teams like Ferrari, McLaren, and Renault that dominated in the early 2000s for example. Besides them, Williams was dominant in the 90s. Apart from these teams, F1 lost a lot of major manufacturer names that never made it big in the sport.

F1 teams that Fell Apart in the Bernie Ecclestone Era

The list of failed manufacturer teams in F1 goes a long way. So, even if we focus on the 2000s decade, it throws out some major names. The first of them has been having an on-off relationship with the sport – Honda. The Japanese manufacturer always experienced its heyday in the top series of motorsport as an engine manufacturer.

But, when it came to being successful as a works team, they faltered badly. In the 2000s decade, Honda ran with the BAR team and then became a full works Honda project. Although, this team never took off to be a top contender exiting after 2008. Of course, it became Brawn GP in 2009 and Mercedes in 2010 and the rest is history.

This same period also saw BMW being heavily involved in F1 as a manufacturer-works team. Partnering with Williams for 4 to 5 years did not work for the German company which then attempted again with Sauber.

The BMW-Sauber project showed some positive scope that could have been built upon. But they too could not capitalize on it and the team fell apart during the 2008 financial crisis. Toyota was the third musketeer manufacturer which accompanied Honda and BMW through the exit door.

Toyota was a dedicated works project by the Japanese manufacturer in the same period until 2008 and 2009. But, it never came together and with a lack of support from F1, the team was doomed to fail and exit from the sport.

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Now, these three teams certainly fell apart and exited owing to their own mistakes. Although, the difference in F1 management is evident in how an independent team like Haas has sustained itself since 2016 under the Liberty media management. So, Steiner’s comments may not be completely wrong. What do you think about the Bernie Ecclestone era of the sport?