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Ecclestone confirms F1's dictatorship tour
 Bernie Ecclestone confirmed that checks from the Kleptocratic Republic of Azerbaijan cleared and Formula 1 is ready to race in Baku next year. Baku is of course one of the ancestral homes of global oil production, where the very skyline celebrates the burning of fossil fuels so it should fit right in with F1's green message. Of issues of corruption, crime, political assassination and invasion threats to neighboring countries by president and 2012 Organized Crime and Corruption Person of the Year, Ilham Allyev, Ecclestone said :

"I think everybody seems to be happy. There doesn't seem to be any big problem there."

OK then. As for racing where people actually care,  F1's "supremo" said Monza is in the same boat as Germany was this year and France was before that:  if people really cared they would just pay what he asks.

F1 has painted itself into a corner where it has to demand fees the size of which can only be met by national governments, autocratic ones preferably.   European Union regulations don't allow for public sector expenditures that benefit a single privately owned entity so Monza is, at the moment, toast.

But no worries sais Ecclestone:

"I tell you something, I was told that when we didn't have a race in France actually. And Germany now. We've got some good replacements, haven't we?"

Well alrighty then...

(via PlanetF1.com)
Labels: Azerbaijan GP, Bernie Ecclestone, Formula 1, Formula 1 2015 at 9:10 AM