Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey has criticised his predecessor Bernie Ecclestone for “complaining” about rather than “fixing” the sport.
The Liberty Media executive has overseen great change in F1 since taking over at the start of 2017, particularly opening the sport up through growing social media and the success ‘Drive to Survive’ Netflix series.
Perhaps the biggest changes though will come next year when all-new regulations agreed under his watch will be introduced, including new cars and the first-ever budget cap.
And all that, he believes, was work that would have never been done under Ecclestone.
“There were things that the sport needed to get on top of that it hasn’t,” Carey said, speaking in Baku recently.
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“I do think the issue with things like costs got to a place that should have been dealt with before but I think the sport probably did not organise itself.
“I’ve talked about the hybrid engine and the incredible technology involved in it, and yet the years preceding us mostly was all people crapping on it as opposed to saying ‘this is the most efficient engine, it’s an incredible piece of technology,’ and it was really a step for the sport to deal with an important issue.”
Liberty has also looked to branch out F1 by adding new events in a combination of new and growing markets, as proven by the all-new Vietnam Grand Prix and the comeback of the Dutch GP for the first time in 35 years.
And with plenty of countries eager to join the calendar, that, Carey claims, is another barometer of the progress F1 has made.
“There were questions about the promoter side of our business and I think the strength of that has been indicated and been a real positive,” he said.
“I think the strength is first and foremost just demand, realistically. We have the good fortune of having a lot more demand than supply for races.
“We want to be selective and we want long-term partnerships, but that has been a positive.
“I think it is a sign of the interest in the sport, the interest that is there that wasn’t being tapped into because the sport wasn’t doing things that you need it to do.
“The sport had gotten a little too critical of itself, as I said, crapping on the engines, Bernie saying I wouldn’t buy a ticket, it’s complaining, not fixing.
“There were problems, but there wasn’t enough action to address the problems, like the costs. People complained about it, but they weren’t doing anything about it.
“Usually in life, if you’ve got issues, you fix them.”
