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Bernie's offer
Rather than 'who's got the quickest V8' or 'who'll best adapt to yet another F1's Qualifying procedure', the primary question preoccupying minds in Sakhir's heavily air conditioned team suites will no doubt be: Is peace about to break out in F1, now that Bernie Ecclestone has reportedly offered teams and manufacturers two seats on the board of Formula One Administration?
FOA falls, of course, under SLEC - the investment vehicle presently owned 25% by Ecclestone's Bambino family trust, with the balance held by three banks - so is hardly the major decision-taking forum in the sport. Put rather crassly, the offer appears akin to a supermarket chain offering representation on the board of its convenience store division (note: not main board) to a group of primary suppliers in order to appease the companies over past dealings.
Would two (maximum seats) provide sufficient voting power within, crucially, SLEC? Hardly. Would said 'suppliers' have reason to feel slightly insulted due to the relatively lowly status of the seat? Possibly. Would the 'suppliers', all of whom are, by nature, exceedingly competitive, find it difficult to 'elect' objective representation to serve the interests of all parties in the group? Totally. Finally, could those 'suppliers' excluded from the offer on the basis of satisfaction with the supermarket's modus operandi feel aggrieved by their exclusion? Absolutely.
