Bernie: My money's on Kimi.
WEDNESDAY 11TH FEBRUARY 2004
Formula One czar Bernie Ecclestone has admitted that his tip to win this year's drivers' title would be McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen - despite his belief that a new champion would not necessarily be good for the sport.
Speaking in an interview with the Australian media, Ecclestone admitted that six-time champion Michael Schumacher would probably have a fight on his hands to notch up a seventh crown, but said that the German's consistent success had been good for the sport.
"I don't think a new champion would [necessarily] be good for the sport," Ecclestone claimed, "I think what Schumacher has done has been very good for us. It's good to have a superstar in any sport - people look up to a superstar. When somebody says Schumacher, they think of Formula One. However, having said that, I think Michael is going to struggle to win the championship this year, and I think we are going to have a very, very, very close championship. My dollar, for what it's worth, would back Kimi Raikkonen."
Ecclestone's belief that the season could boil down to more than a one- or two-horse race was underlined when he was asked who he expected to feature at the front in 2004.
"Of the obvious people, there is Kimi who, as I say, I would put my money on to be the champion," he repeated, "There's Michael, who is always there. Obviously. [Juan] Montoya, most probably if he quietens down a little bit, is going to be a contender and could also win the championship. [Fernando] Alonso is the same. There's a lot of guys out there, where you would be surprised what will happen with the right circumstances. It depends on their cars I've never been a Button supporter, to be honest with you, but it looks like he's doing a good job now. So we have to wait and see."
Naturally, the conversation turned to focus on the media's local darling, Mark Webber, and Ecclestone was praising of the Australian.
"I don't think we've seen the best of him," he said, "It's very difficult to assess somebody like him in the machinery he has been using. It's very, very difficult. I mean, if he was in a Ferrari, for example, how much better would he be? You ought to know it's not just the driver [who determines success in F1]. Schumacher is good, he motivates the team and he sorts things out properly. We don't know whether Mark is capable of doing that because he has never had the opportunity, but I suspect he may well be able to."
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Eli näyttää olevan osa laajempaa kokonaisuutta tuo MTV3:n uutinen. Olennaista kait on kiinnittää huomiota tuohon Eccelstonen näkemykseen siitä, että uusi mestari ei välttämättä olisi hyväksi lajille.
