Ecclestone: Mercedes not to blame for 'one-sided' F1
Bernie Ecclestone insists that Mercedes cannot be held accountable for the one-sided domination it is enjoying in the current era of F1, but admits that it would be better for the sport to have more competition.
Fielding questions about the state of F1 and the risk of some of its bigger players becoming disenchanted with the direction the sport appears to be headed in, Ecclestone conceded that there were areas that needed to be looked at, but maintained that F1, as a whole, was in no worse shape than it has been over the years.
"I think probably there is nothing more wrong than there ever has been," he told reporters, "There are some people with more money, some people without a lot of money. It's always been like that.
"There are people always complaining about something, but the winners never complain. All the losers complain. All I've ever said is that it's a pity that one team is, at the moment, dominating the sport."
Never a fan of the switch to supposedly greener V6 turbo-charged power units, Ecclestone barely resisted the temptation to pan the current technical formula, before hinting that perhaps the penalty system for exceeding the allocated component quotas could be altered to prevent some of the expected frontrunners being sent to the rear of the grid.
"The biggest problems we've had [is that] we're all grown up and should have known that this power unit is not really what we need for F1 - I think that's the bottom line," he claimed, before chiding Mercedes' rivals for not being able to match the German giant's performance.
"I don't think [Mercedes] are getting criticised for winning - that's what they are supposed to do," he noted, "I think people are saying it's a pity, that's all. There's nothing wrong with what Mercedes has done, they're doing an incredible job. Both the drivers are doing a super job, no complaints. It's not a problem with the people that are winning, it's a problem with the people that are not competing with them.
"It's got nothing to do with the sport. The product which we produce at the moment is a bit top heavy with one team winning a lot of races a bit too easy, so when Ferrari get their act together and we see a big improvement, and exactly the same thing happens with McLaren... It would be nice if McLaren were where we always expect them to be, somewhere at the front.
"Red Bull are disappointed, but what they're saying is 'it's not our fault our performance is what it is'. That's what their complaint is, [and] I think Renault understand. They're looking for a competitive engine. Renault should know what they ought to do. The engine or power unit is such that it is so complicated that it's difficult for them. It's nothing to do with money, it's to do with the people."
