06/09/2004
NEWS STORY
In an astonishing attack, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said that Jaguar Racing, which is owned by Ford, should not be in F1.
In an interview with Radio Five Live at the weekend, Ecclestone said "They shouldn't be there," when asked if the team's relatively poor performance damaged the Jaguar 'brand'.
"They really shouldn't," he added. "Someone's got to be fifteenth and eighteenth and tenth, you can't all be first. However, something like Jaguar, at least they should be competitive.
"We've seen that McLaren's had a lousy year this year," he continued, "but at least they've still looked competitive. Jaguar has never looked like that."
At a time when we are continuously warned of the threat to F1's future by manufacturers withdrawing, Ecclestone's comments seem strange, and somewhat confrontational.
Jaguar has, thus far, failed to comment on Bernie's comments.