Bernie

[vintly]

From The Times:

Bernie Ecclestone: ‘I am not sure what happiness is’
By Matthew Syed

The Formula One head has never felt joy and knows why his wife left him, he tells Matthew Syed

Half an hour into an interview in which we discuss death, money, happiness, lavish weddings, painful divorces and the possibility of a long spell in a German prison, Bernie Ecclestone jumps to his feet. His movement is so sudden that it takes me by surprise.
“I have to be at my granddaughter’s christening in 15 minutes,” he says, eyes blinking. “Would you like to come in the car with me? We can continue to talk in there.”

Just 90 seconds later we are out of his office in Knightsbridge and in the back of his chauffeur-driven Mercedes people carrier. The driver had roared into action the second the diminutive 82-year-old stepped onto the pavement and in a flash we are out onto the Kensington Road. “We mustn’t be late,” Ecclestone says. “The christening is in Eaton Square. It will be touch and go.”

I try to resume the interview where we left off, but as I launch into a question Ecclestone’s mobile phone starts ringing. It is Jean Todt, president of motor racing’s governing body, the FIA. He tells Ecclestone that Mercedes and Pirelli have been given a slap on the wrist for conducting an illegal test earlier this month (news of the sanction would not break on the wires for another hour). “Just a reprimand, is it?” Ecclestone says. “That’s great. Congratulations on conducting a good process, Jean.”

As he hangs up a call comes through from his office to say that Toto Wolff, the executive director of the Mercedes team, is on the line. Bernie says he gave him the good news telling him he had got away with a reprimand. Mr Wolff then, according to Bernie, thanks him, tells him he is shocked and promises that dinner is on him at Silverstone.

Ecclestone’s mobile phone is already vibrating again. “Gotta go, Toto,” he says. But before he takes the next call he realises that we have hit a snag on our journey. The traffic is backed up on Beauchamp Place. “Take a different route,” Ecclestone says, with a hint of anxiety. He has to be at the christening by midday and it is almost 11.55. The driver darts up Lennox Gardens, hangs a left, and starts up Milner Street. There is still a slim chance we will make it on time.

Ecclestone’s mobile phone is ringing again as the chauffeur swerves around a white van like Lewis Hamilton manoeuvring through a chicane. Then the speakerphone begins to beep. As the car makes its way into Belgravia, Ecclestone is leaving a voice message for Christian Horner of Red Bull; and as we round the bend into Eaton Square — I can see his daughter’s Rolls-Royce pulling into St Peter’s — Ecclestone is on to his PA about plans for Silverstone.

It was once said that the entire multibillion world of motorsports revolves around one man. On the basis of this car journey I can see why. Ecclestone is still talking, softly but intensely, as his hand reaches for the door handle and he gets ready to jump out. “Do you always live at such a breakneck pace?” I ask.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he says, smiling.

Forty-five minutes earlier, the two of us had been sitting around a table in a meeting room in his suite of offices adjacent to Hyde Park. His first action on arriving had been to straighten the multicoloured chairs, then to sip a cup of herbal tea.

“How are you?” I ask. “Busy,” he replies. “But I like busy. If I didn’t get up in the morning knowing I have a few problems to solve, I wouldn’t get up. It is the best thing.” He isn’t kidding.

He has run Formula One for more than 30 years and has amassed a fortune estimated at £3 billion. Many biographies have been written about him, but in a sense he remains an enigma. People who have known him for decades, who know almost everything about his life, still puzzle about what makes him tick; why he remains so driven into his ninth decade. Is it all about money, as some suggest?

“Not at all,” he says. “Business people really are not there to make money for themselves, it is just a means of keeping score. A sprinter tries to run the 100m quicker than the other fellow. It is the same for a businessman. At the end of the year, you can say: ‘I did well.’ Very rich people can’t spend their wealth. It is just a game.”

I start wondering about his inner life. What makes him happy? What does he look forward to? Ecclestone’s brow furrows as I put the questions. He looks almost confused. “I am not sure what happiness is,” he says. “What do those feelings mean? I have experienced satisfaction when I have planned something and it has come off. But happiness? I am not so sure.”
Have you never experienced joy at work or in your personal life; something that has made you well up inside? “No,” he says.
Never? “I have had racehorses that have won. I have had Formula One cars win when I was with the Brabham team. We were first and second in the American Grand Prix one year, but I didn’t feel joy. I left before the race had finished.” Why? “Because there was nothing I could do any more. I couldn’t help them to win from the stands, so what was the point of being there?

“I don’t celebrate. I don’t see the point. I went to my daughter’s wedding last week and walked her down the aisle. But I didn’t go to the celebrations the next day. I went home. I was there to do a job \[give her away\] and was happy to do that. I didn’t want to hang around. The whole thing was a huge affair, too much really. But I didn’t pay for it. My ex-wife did,” he adds.

I find myself warming to Ecclestone. His candour and emotional vulnerability are like two sides of the same coin. He does not duck a question, answering instantly and without a hint of spin. In some ways he seems to be confounded by his own character, astonished at his inability to experience the emotions of those who surround him. “I am unusual,” he says. The realisation is almost enough to raise a smile.

“I have been like that all my life. When I was 9 or 10 my auntie threw a birthday party for me. She invited some other kids to come along, but I left before the party started. I just disappeared. It was the same at my wedding to my ex [Slavica, a Croatian former model].

“When we went to the register office I realised that we didn’t have a witness. I had to ring Max Mosley, who was the president of the FIA at the time, and ask if his secretary could come down. We went to a restaurant afterwards, but it was full. So I left to come back to the office. To me it was just another day.”

Ecclestone’s admits that his tunnel vision has cost him dear in his personal life. “That is why my ex \[Slavica\] left me,” he says. “She was not happy because I didn’t take time off. She wanted to do things that perhaps I didn’t want to do.

“She liked travelling, which I could have done. But she could never understand why I didn’t want to.

“When she turned 50, she was still very good-looking and had plenty of money. The children had left. She had the freedom to do what she wanted. So she decided to leave me. There was not a lot I could do. I tried to keep things together, but the truth is that she was happier without me.”

For a moment, Ecclestone looks downcast, his eyes blinking rapidly. But he quickly shrugs his shoulders.

[F1fanaticBD]

Mr. Bernie is a ruthless business man, please don't try to instil humanity in him, he does not have any. Yes with his guidance F1 has become the pinnacle of motorsports, but because of his ruthless business mind, it also has to give a lot of its charm, persona. He wanted it to be a playground of filthy rich, which he clearly achieved, and eroded every possibility of people with little money but great heart for motorsports to be involved anymore.

[Jericoke]

Mr. Bernie is a ruthless business man, please don't try to instil humanity in him, he does not have any. Yes with his guidance F1 has become the pinnacle of motorsports, but because of his ruthless business mind, it also has to give a lot of its charm, persona. He wanted it to be a playground of filthy rich, which he clearly achieved, and eroded every possibility of people with little money but great heart for motorsports to be involved anymore.

What I've admired most about Bernie is that he never ever pretends to be something he isn't.  We might not all appreciate what he is, but the world needs more people who are willing to put their true face forward. 

(Just for fun, we can toss in the Vettel bashing.  Maybe he is an arrogant entitled bastard, but he's not pretending not to be.)

[cosworth151]

(Just for fun, we can toss in the Vettel bashing.  Maybe he is an arrogant entitled bastard, but he's not pretending not to be.)

Who do you think Bernie's high speed chauffeur was?   

[Willy]

Is it the Stig?

[F1fanaticBD]

Is it the Stig?

Nah Stig is way too cool for Bernie. Seb Vet suits him the most