Bernie Ecclestone

It's a pity each country can't make its own decision on tobacco - they decide whether it's good for the country or good for them or whatever. What I'm looking at is, imagine a country, like here in Spain for example, where they have three very important motorcycle events and a Formula 1 event. If they just said 15 days a year there should be an exemption for just inside the circuit, nowhere else, it's however many people, 100,000 or so, who are going to be exposed, if that's the right word and they're exposed anyway with TV. It just seems a little bit silly, that's all. It's up to the governments in each country but losing European races would be a shame. It's the last thing we want.

Yeah.

Maybe if that's the case, it won't be a problem.

Ask the teams. I don't smoke. And I don't get any sponsorship. They rely on the tobacco sponsorship. What we've always said is that if tobacco advertising is so powerful and seeing a sign makes people start smoking, we should put up another sign, just as large, that says: 'If you smoke, you'll die.' That's just as powerful. Out of the blue, the governments have all got free advertising that does exactly what they want.

No.

It's nothing to do with me.

We no longer have any contract with Silverstone for an F1 event. We had a contract with a company controlled by Interpublic and that contract has now come to an end. We have no contract with anybody for the British Grand Prix. I hope the BRDC find a promoter and we can continue.

No, it's up to them to pay for it.

No, this is way, way, way back.

No.

Because I run a business that's not used to losing money! I'm absolutely sure that a promoter will come forward and be the promoter of the British Grand Prix. They can do all the building work that they want and I hope they can build something that is a lot better than has been proposed. The BRDC are going to take a bit of a bath on their rent. They've got a circuit that people were offering £40m to buy and they've been getting £10m a year rent. They'll have to have a think. We made a contribution to the car parks. Super car parks. You could park tanks on those. They haven't really run things very efficiently from a business point of view, and the government have been good enough to put the roads in.

It's looking very much like it. Governments support the Olympics and World Cups and things. It wouldn't hurt if they wanted to. They don't have to.

Pretty slim. But I think a promoter that's doing a good job could make it work and make a profit. If we find a promoter, we'll sign a long-term contract.

The proposals are things that Max and I have discussed over quite a period. As usual some of the things I don't agree with and some of the things I want to put forward Max doesn't agree with. And in general the teams nod, which would seem to be approving things. They'll go away and think about it and talk to the people inside the company. They have a re-think and then we need another discussion. But don't forget, these regulations which have been put through are for 2008. Technically, nobody needs to be asked. If you want to be in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, these are the regulations you have to build a car to.

We're going to try and get it through mid-season if we can. I'd like to go back to having one hour, 2-3pm, split into two half-hours, with a minimum of six laps for each car to run in each half hour and aggregate the times. We stopped it because nobody ran for the first half hour so people were sitting in the grandstand seeing nothing except the Minardis going round, and the same for TV, which was disgraceful.

No, do what you like over six laps, go as fast as you can and if you don't do those six laps you take the slowest time from the next session. And if you don't do it in both sessions you start from the back of the grid.

I think they'll probably want to continue with that.

It's what they want to do. We'd agreed the finance with GPWC and if they'd have continued with what they said they were going to do we wouldn't be talking now. So if the teams want a Concorde Agreement or to sign separately, we don't mind. Max believes we should make a contract with each team, and he's probably right. I'm looking at all the possibilities.

The FIA has nothing to do with commercial matters any more than we (FOM) does with the sport. We (FOM) look at the commercial side of the sport.

Absolutely.

Anytime. We are putting together now the terms of a basic Concorde Agreement, the commercial side, and then it's a case of sorting out the technical and sporting side.

All the time we have deals with the teams.

We've spoken to a lot of teams that seem to be in agreement.

Erm, I mean, it depends. I think there's a meeting of GPWC people tomorrow but I don't know what they are going to decide. Maybe they will say that they still want to do their own series, I've no idea, that's up to them.

I don't know what sort of managerial position they would have wanted to be in. But nobody's indispensable and if I was gone tomorrow morning somebody else would fill my boots immediately. No problem. Probably do things in a different way...

I like to feel it's going to get better, not worse.

It's a bit difficult to have someone doing what I do when I'm around.

I didn't know they had changed their mind...

What he's saying is, we don't need to race past 2007, we can stop.

I dunno (laughter)

They probably feel that what we are doing is all right, it runs okay, so why change it?

Or more... They are probably the most important brand we've got that is competing. I'm more worried about them stopping. In fact I'm more worried about any of the GPWC people that come out with these statements of what they are going to do. I'm not worried about them doing a new series, I'm worried about them stopping. Not worried, but concerned that they may stop.

Yeah. Companies that large can have a board meeting, decide they are stopping and that's it, they stop. Renault did before, BMW, Alfa Romeo, it's always happened. I honestly, genuinely believe that all the people currently in charge of those companies are keen and want to see F1 survive and get better and better. I really genuinely believe that. The trouble is that the positions change and maybe the guy that comes in thinks differently.

I don't think so. They are meeting tomorrow to see how they are going to continue.

Well, FOM has got the ownership, they paid a lot of money for it and it's only got another 103 years to run...

Well, we've got Max involved now and you now how mischievous Max is... We are still together but you might say we've just switched positions a bit. I don't know who we are fighting now. Nobody I hope.

I'd take a bit less for cash maybe! What's silly with the manufacturers is that they came into F1 because it suited them, not to help F1. We are like a big car showroom for them and what they are doing really is breaking all the glass and making sure people can't see in to see their product, which is a bit cranky. They should be doing all they can to help us because they are not capable of organising and running things themselves because the people they will get will be doing it for the wrong reason.

Well, I think they are, but people don't know what they don't know.

We think its beneficial for everyone to have just one tyre company.

Who knows? If that's what happens, it will go out to tender. We want to run a much harder tyre and hopefully the rubber won't roll off like it does at the moment (giving those slippery 'marbles' off the racing line).

Sure, but how many other times did that happen?

Or perhaps they both decide they don't want to be in. Then someone else will be the only game in town. It's dangerous.

We would definitely stop that but I think its good if some of the guys in the lower ranks bought one of the other team's cars. That really would be the right way to go and would really cut costs.

For a new team? Oh, I'm actually thinking of someone like Jordan buying a McLaren. He's Irish, he could probably do that! (laughter).

We've always managed to do the top 10 for the past 30-odd years.

Yes, get the money and blow them away as well...

If that happens, perhaps it would, but I didn't say it was going to happen.

We'll talk about anything.

It'd be good for the sport if anybody beat Michael.