Ecclestone Helped Soften BAR Penalty
Formula One supreme Bernie Ecclestone has claimed that he was instrumental in helping BAR avoid a complete ban from the World Championship in the wake of their fuel tank controversy
BAR will this weekend serve the second of their two-race ban for having illegally used fuel as ballast during the San Marino Grand Prix - a punishment which the team originally felt was way too harsh.
But speaking at the Monaco Grand Prix, Ecclestone claimed that BAR could have been dealt an even more severe penalty - and they only escaped that because he put pressure on FIA president Max Mosley.
"Max took a hard line on BAR and wanted them thrown out of the entire Championship," Ecclestone told reporters in Monaco yesterday. "I told him to come back from that a bit because I was worried Honda might leave the sport.
"I asked him not to go for an entire season's ban because it would also not have been good for the sport."
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