Bernie Ecclestone: King of Sport

by Terry Lovell

He is the man who created modern-day Formula One. He is both feared and admired for the way in which he masterminded its transformation from an amateur sport of the 1950s into a global billion dollar industry of the 21st century. And now, with his fortune, influence, and power, Bernie Ecclestone has moved into the world of soccer with Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore to turn Queen's Park Rangers, a struggling west London club, into a serious rival to the capital's glamour club, Chelsea. Overnight, QPR has access to more wealth than Real Madrid, able to compete with the financial backing of Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner. But what makes Bernie run? What lies behind the grim, poker-face of this deal-maker extraordinaire, who, for nearly 40 years, has ruthlessly exploited and dominated Formula One? To many he became the savior of the sport, but there have also been many who have suffered at this hands—the weak and the gullible, the politically naive and unsuspecting. They have a different story to tell. Revealing the unbridled avarice, callousness, and corruption behind the hype of Formula One, this book also shows the warts-and-all character of the man who is now setting his sights on a sport no less decadent.

Genres: Biography

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Riccardo Paterni · Rating 4 out of 5]

The little guy with the haircut from the sixties and the blindly white shirt is now well over 80 years old. This book gives enlightening insights to the behind the scenes of Bernie fast progress from rugs to riches. His focus has been, since his very early age, on making money and developing ambitious ideas without never looking back to whoever got run over along the way. This drive and ambition developed the fame and global growth of Formula 1 globally yet this has been arguably good for the actual development of motor racing (F1 included!). Good thing that facts have cancelled the meaning of this book title... Bernie has never become a king beyond F1...

[Morteza · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed behind the scene story of Formula one and the great man himself.
I would have enjoyed it more if it was 4 time shorter and more to the point.

[Tom Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dense language, but a fascinating read.