Dennis: Bernie 'stole' F1 from the teams
With a rival series once again a hot topic, McLaren chairman Ron Dennis has accused Bernie Ecclestone of stealing the rights to Formula One from the teams.
Ecclestone came to power in the 1970s, growing his empire through the sale of television rights to the sport.
In exchange for the F1 supremo having the power to do so, he negotiated the Concorde Agreement with the teams in 1997. While he holds onto the rights to television coverage of the sport, the teams receive an annual payment.
Ecclestone's companies also manage the administration, setup and logistics of the Formula One grands prix.
However, Ecclestone's power is once again being threatened as Ferrari have once again raised the topic of a breakaway series when the current Concorde Agreement expires at the end of 2012.
And one man who may back that is Dennis if his comments about Ecclestone 'stealing' Formula One from the teams are anything go to by.
"Bernie effectively stole Formula One from us," Dennis said in Ecclestone's new biography entitled Bernie.
"He used this commercial benefit to persuade the teams to accept a contract that eliminated them from the passing of rights as had previously existed."
Ecclestone, though, is at all fazed about the teams' thoughts on the subject.
"It's only when things started to look good and I invested the money and it started to work that they thought maybe they should have done it."
Credit: PlanetF1.com (www.planetf1.com)
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