Ron Dennis Says Ecclestone Stole F1 from the Teams

In the wake of the latest breakaway threat made by Ferrari towards the CVC and, subsequently, Bernie Ecclestone, former McLaren Mercedes boss Ron Dennis decided to speak up. So he referred to the way the profits resulted from the F1 business on an yearly basis are shared to the series' main actors, the teams.

As you all know, this was the main argument brought by Ferrari's Luca di Montezemolo to support his threat. That teams should get more of the sport's revenues and that a new Concorde Agreement will not be signed unless all parties involved figure out a way for this to happen. He even suggested some solutions, one of which was that teams should get to own and control the commercial aspects of the series like in the NBA (North American professional basketball league).

Dennis did nothing but echo those comments, while also launching a serious accusation to Ecclestone himself.

“Bernie effectively stole Formula One from us,” said the former McLaren team principal, who believes now is the time the F1 teams should get their series back. “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,” he added in his book.

Back in the 1990s, Ecclestone managed to gain total control of the TV rights of Formula One, in exchange of annual payments to the F1 teams. That led to the signing of the first Concorde Agreement in 1997, a road beginner in Ecclestone's future financial scheme. Ever since, the teams were unhappy with the sums they get at the end of each year.

The latest Concorde Agreement was signed back in 2009, at the end of what is known as the biggest political war between the FIA and the F1 teams, represented by the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), in the recent history of the sport. It expires at the end of 2012 and, from the looks of it, the teams are already starting to put some pressure on Ecclestone.