Roger Benoit, a true veteran of Swiss racing journalism, has a long-standing and very warm relationship with Bernie Eccleston, the former head of Formula 1 management. This relationship is so good that Benoit was invited again to stay at the Brazilian farm of the Ecclestone family in the town of Amparo, located a two-hour drive from Sao Paulo.
And he witnessed this and took part in very interesting conversations, because 94-year-old Bernie Ecclestone really has something to say, and not just about the issues of the past. Even now, behind the scenes, he continues to influence the adoption of certain decisions.
For example, while they were playing backgammon, Sebastian Vettel called, and after speaking to him, Bernie said: “I had to convince him to give up his dreams of returning to Formula 1. Why would a four-time world champion submit to all those tests again?”
The next day, Flavio Briatore called and confirmed that he was determined to sign a contract with Franco Colapinto for 2025, so that the promising Argentine would become Pierre Gasly’s partner instead of Jack Douin. Briatore insisted there was no problem paying Williams $20 million to get Colapinto.
As they say in Formula 1: “Contracts are made to be broken.” In the summer it was officially confirmed that Duane would make his Alpine debut next season, but Ecclestone just laughed: “In Formula 1, anything is possible until the money is in the bank account.”
And last Wednesday, Fabiana, Ecclestone’s wife and vice-president of the FIA, which represents the Latin American countries in the federation, received a message with words of gratitude from Father Gabriel Bortoleto. “He thanks us for helping Gabriel join Audi-Sauber. We opened some doors for him there,” she explained. How this happened is not specified.
“For Bortoleto it is now important to find an apartment closer to the base in Hinwil,” Ecclestone added. “Audi is coming to Formula 1, but in the current economic situation they are probably not so angry that investors from Qatar are interested in this new project and want to participate in it.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
