Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns Delta Topco, the previous ultimate parent company of the Formula One Group. As such, he was commonly described in journalism as ‘F1 Supremo’.
Ecclestone entered two Grand Prix races as a driver, during the 1958 season, but failed to qualify for either of them. Later he became manager of drivers Stuart Lewis-Evans and Jochen Rindt. In 1972, he bought the Brabham team, which he ran for fifteen years. As a team owner he became a member of the Formula One Constructors Association. His control of the sport, which grew from his pioneering the sale of television rights in the late 1970s, was chiefly financial, but under the terms of the Concorde Agreement he and his companies also managed the administration, setup and logistics of each Formula One Grand Prix, making him one of the richest men in the United Kingdom. On 23 January 2017, it was announced that Ecclestone had been replaced by Chase Carey as chief executive of the Formula One Group, though he has been appointed as chairman emeritus and will act as an adviser to the board. Info from Wiki
Info from Mischa Bijenhof
Officially Ecclestone is listed as one-time DNQ, but some statistics list him as an entrant in both the Monaco and the British Grand Prix. Neither of Bernie’s two, (or in fact, single), appearances as a WDC-driver were serious efforts. As the owner of two Connaught B-types, he briefly tried one of the cars in Monaco for his driver Bruce Kessler. As for Silverstone: as far as I know his entry as a driver was an administrative error. His two drivers were Jack Fairman and Ivor Bueb, and while some reports list Ecclestone as the driver of car no. 14, this was in fact Fairmans car, who drover it all weekend, including the race. I don’t think Ecclestone ever drove it that weekend.
Info from Duncan Rollo
To be fair to Bernie, neither was a serious attempt t qualify.
At Monaco the drivers were complaining of handling problems. Bernie did a few laps to see if he could identify the cause from his F2 and F3 experience – he couldn’t. As was the norm, the ACM timed his laps.
At Silverstone it is best described as the team owner indulging himself. The cars were on the grid, albeit right at the back, so he would receive starting money which was the best he could expect with the obsolescent cars. As it was probably the last GP he would enter, he opted to take a car out for a few laps at the end of practice.
In both cases, for insurance purposes he had to be nominated as a driver.
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