F1 CEO BERNIE ECCLESTONE "gives himself about half a second" to repeat a question aloud, according to Ted Macauley of GULF NEWS. Ecclestone: "When am I going to quit? Sure, it's been a terrible year, one of the
worst of my life but, as I have told you often enough before, and
nothing has changed, I am staying put. The only way my job in
Formula One will come to an end, unless somebody with the power decrees
it, is when they are carrying me away in my coffin. And then they'd
better make sure the lid is nailed down." He added, "I have always run the business the way I thought it should be
organized. And it has mostly worked. The minute I can't do that, I will
quit." It would be "far too easy to dismiss Ecclestone as an unfathomable and not-so-likeable being." But that is a "false impression and, when you
get to know him and he relaxes in your company, he can be charm and
humour personified." Cross him, though, and "you are in trouble." His mantra is, "I'm a good friend -- but a bad enemy." The last few weeks have been a "constant source of pressure, with
even his old friend" and former team owner EDDIE JORDAN saying, "I
am sick of the way F1 is being run at the moment." Ecclestone "hits back at the rebels who are
trying to force him onto the back foot," saying, "They are idiots. They have
to stop spending and reduce their costs. Put away the begging bowls. It's simple -- they spend more than they've got" (GULF NEWS, 11/15).
