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Handicapping Not to Punish Ferrari, Says Ecclestone

A weight handicapping system earmarked for Formula One next season has not been designed to penalise Ferrari, but to create closer, more exciting races, F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone said.

A weight handicapping system earmarked for Formula One next season has not been designed to penalise Ferrari, but to create closer, more exciting races, F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone said.

However, using Ecclestone's proposed figures, 2002 champion Michael Schumacher's lead this year would saddle him with more than 114 kilograms of extra weight - the equivalent of almost two extra drivers in the cockpit with him.

Under Ecclestone's plans, ballast would be added once a driver had reached 20 points. An extra kilogram of weight would be added for every point earned by the driver. With one race still to go this season, five-times World Champion Schumacher already has a record 134 points for the season.

Although Ecclestone says the proposal is not to penalise Ferrari, who have won 14 of this season's 16 races and Schumacher who has won the last three World Championships, it is clear that under the current conditions the Italian team would be hit hardest.

Global television audiences have fallen this season as Schumacher won this year's title in record time with six races to spare. The German has a lead of 63 points - over teammate Rubens Barrichello - going into the final round of the season in Japan this weekend.

Ballast Applied

In an interview with the daily Gazzetta dello Sport, Ecclestone said fans of the sport want to see a closer fight between the big teams.

"I am thinking about the fans, the people who pay a lot of money to attend a Grand Prix and who don't want to be in the position of knowing the winner before the start of the race," said Ecclestone.

"Think of me in front of the television - I don't want to bet only on whether Schumacher will win all the Grand Prix in 2003.

"I am proposing that the ballast be applied when the driver has achieved 20 points in the standings and then every point gained would correspond to an extra kilo placed on the car, or the weight-point ratio that will be decided.

"I want a World Championship where the three big teams will battle lap after lap, race after race," added Ecclestone, who handles the commercial side of F1.

Ecclestone said the Formula One Commission of the FIA (International Motorsports Federation) would take any decision on a handicapping system. The commission is due to meet in London on October 28 - the date of Ecclestone's 72nd birthday. The system would be fair on all teams, Ecclestone said.

"What would happen if in 2003 Ferrari has a weak machine and McLaren a great one? Let me repeat that the rules are not against anyone but in favour of a greater balance.

Contrived Competition

"If Schumacher would get 10 points more than (David) Coulthard then the race after he would put on 10 kilos more. Maybe then McLaren would win the next Grand Prix and then it would be Coulthard who would have to put on the extra 10 kilos," said Ecclestone.

The British businessman also rejected the view that a weight handicap would lead to a contrived competition and that fans might not see the races as real battles.

"I am certain that very soon the people would stop thinking 'that driver has 16 kilos the other 20'. As in horse racing, at the start people think of only one thing - to enjoy the race, that's all.

"I hope we would arrive at the last race of 2003 with teams on the same weight. That would say that the ballast was a great idea," said Ecclestone.

But teams were opposed to the proposals. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo told England's Daily Telegraph: "It is not fair to penalise the best with this sort of handicap."

Patrick Head, technical director of BMW Williams, told ITV he believes other teams need to catch Ferrari up, rather than slow them down.

"I find the suggestion of adding ballast to anyone's car distasteful," he said. "It is a knee-jerk reaction because Ferrari have been so dominant."

McLaren's managing director Martin Whitmarsh added: "Nobody wants to beat Ferrari because their cars are carrying additional weight. It's up to us to catch them."

Ecclestone said: "They are predictable positions but if I was at Williams or McLaren, privately I would be delighted with the weight idea."

However, Ecclestone believes that even if the handicap system is brought in, Schumacher will be World Champion again.

"If you want my opinion Schumacher will win even with the ballast. This year has never had to go truly to his limit. He is capable of much. And he will be World Champion again, even if not as easily as in 2002."

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