139 replies to this topic

[D.M.N.]

https://twitter.com/...087863962357760

 

Will Buxton

My colleague @IcoF1 reporting that Boullier asked FIA to withdraw credential of journalist who asked team bosses if they'd race in N Korea.

6:38 PM - 26 Jul 2014

 

Reading AUTOSPORT's transcript, this appears to be referring to Ralf Bach from BILD.

 

Q: (Ralf Bach - Sport Bild) So we learn now that we are going to Azerbaijan. We drove in Bahrain, everybody knows that Bahrain is killing their own people. We go to Russia and no comment. We drove in China, China is not very famous for democracy I heard. So my question is: all you guys say that you have a Formula One and drivers and everybody has to make a good example for young people. Do you think it's a good example to follow Mr Ecclestone everywhere he wants? Next question is when he would go to North Korea, would you follow him?

[SophieB]

Not sure where to put this - this thread first came to mind so I'll drop it in here: https://twitter.com/...087863962357760
 
Will Buxton
My colleague @IcoF1 reporting that Boullier asked FIA to withdraw credential of journalist who asked team bosses if they'd race in N Korea.
6:38 PM - 26 Jul 2014
 
Reading AUTOSPORT's transcript, this appears to be referring to Ralf Bach from BILD.

 
If true, that's terrible. I will look with interest for response to that from @eboullier. Hope it's not correct.

[D.M.N.]

In hindsight, I've split this out, as it's been confirmed by Karin Sturm to be true: https://twitter.com/...091205874712576

[Ross Stonefeld]

The teams/drivers/sponsors already have the whip hand on the media, I don't know why they'd need to use a third party.

[ElDictatore]

Well, if you know the BILD, it's obvious that this question was only there for a big headline. They don't give a damn if F1 would have a race in N.Korea.

[brr]

Why should political activists have journalist credentials in the first place?

[Risil]

Unless there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye, this is a very bad thing.

 

Is F1 having a crisis of confidence?

Edited by Risil, 26 July 2014 - 18:01.

[SealTheDiffuser]

Why should political activists have journalist credentials in the first place?

 

lol, Bach is a serious F1 journalist

[Risil]

Why should political activists have journalist credentials in the first place?

 

Why would a racing journalist want to do anything except promote F1? That's their job, right?

[Fastcake]

Well that's some pretty lousy behaviour from Mr Boullier. If you don't like the question then maybe you shouldn't put yourself in that position in the first place - or more realistically just freeze that journalist out like people apparently do. You can't go about demanding their accreditation to be revoked.

 

 

 

...So did anyone actually answer the question?

Edited by Fastcake, 26 July 2014 - 18:03.

[SealTheDiffuser]

no answers or pathtic answers were given in the press conference... transcript on fia.com

 

like    "if the FIA and CVC (Bernie) says it save to go we go anywhere...."

 

....

Edited by SealTheDiffuser, 26 July 2014 - 18:04.

[brr]

lol, Bach is a serious F1 journalist

 

Maybe he should be asking serious F1 questions then.

[Boing 2]

I know what point the journo's making but America has a concentration camp, Britain's destroying documents relating to torture flights, Brazil has terrible record with police killing favella kids, many European countries are recording a rise in extreme right wing politics and Australia is doing terrible things with illegal immigrants. The sad fact is that here aren't too many countries that have a great record on human rights these days (worryingly). The days when we could smugly pet outselves on the head and pretend to be the good guys are long past.

[SealTheDiffuser]

Maybe he should be asking serious F1 questions then.

 

twist it like you want...

[Ross Stonefeld]

Maybe he should be asking serious F1 questions then.

 

He was. If you read the transcript there was a portion of the conversation about how they choose which countries to race in.

 

Btw what evidence do we have of this? We have Twitter claims and Sturm saying it's true. Sturm works for either the FIA or Bild/Bild's company presumably?

[Lemans]

I like Eric but he's wrong to do this.

I get a little nervous when people in power try to shut the press up.

[Lemans]

Maybe he should be asking serious F1 questions then.

 

It doesn't get more serious then that.

[Nonesuch]

Mark Hughes had a great article about this sort of thing a few years ago on Autosport, in which he painted a rather bleak picture of F1's future. The championship would go racing only, or mostly, in countries where the local citizens could not object to the flagrant waste of money that comes with attracting F1 to a purpose built track (that is, countries with dubious or outright dictatorial regimes). In that F1, there was no room for annoying questions, and journalists had either been removed or of the kind that knows when to stay quiet. There's plenty of the latter around already.

 

But anyway, let's see if this is actually true before pointing too many fingers.

[Timstr11]

The journalists are the only ones who can bring a bit of scrutiny to a sport that lacks decent governance.

Now they want to shut journalists up!? Bouillier should take step back out of the F1 bubble to get some perspective and some media training.

 

Edit:

Will Buxton ‏@willbuxton  6m

V good source says that while upset about the negativity of some questions, Boullier didn't ask for credential to be revoked.

Edited by Timstr11, 26 July 2014 - 18:12.

[Ross Stonefeld]

If it's incorrect I hope someone gets sued.

 

 

That said, I know of at least one incident in the past decade where there were accreditation threats.

[Kraken]

Totally agree with Eric. Ask questions about racing not about politics. FOM and FIA are the ones in control. Why keep asking the same loaded questions over and over again.

 

I despite that sort of journalism and is one of the main reasons why I haven't read a newspaper for years. Media these days is all about pushing peoples buttons to start arguments on their web pages to drive up the traffic.

[Diablobb81]

So i guess Eric would answer the questions with a clear yes.

Thankfully we are now back to the regular PR crap.

This story fits perfectly with the one about Flavio being back. Great future.

Edited by Diablobb81, 26 July 2014 - 18:17.

[Timstr11]

Totally agree with Eric. Ask questions about racing not about politics. FOM and FIA are the ones in control. Why keep asking the same loaded questions over and over again.

 

I despite that sort of journalism and is one of the main reasons why I haven't read a newspaper for years. Media these days is all about pushing peoples buttons to start arguments on their web pages to drive up the traffic.

 

Why?

 

The Team Principals should know how to answer questions like that diplomatically. Some of them did. Like Monisha Kaltenborn and Claire Williams.

Edited by Timstr11, 26 July 2014 - 18:21.

[ElDictatore]

You can say what you want, but the question was only there to have some kind of "Formula 1 would go to North Korea!" headline. BILD is like the dailymail but to a degree even worse. So I don't see it as a serious question hence maybe why certain TP's there got upset, since they're TP's not politicians.

[pingu666]

ive actually always wanted a race in the n korea capital, they got some really wide roads/motorways, could be interesting

 

and a massive culture shock too

[Timstr11]

You can say what you want, but the question was only there to have some kind of "Formula 1 would go to North Korea!" headline. BILD is like the dailymail but to a degree even worse. So I don't see it as a serious question hence maybe why certain TP's there got upset, since they're TP's not politicians.

 

If you're running an international business, you need to be prepared for questions like this.

It's just amateur hour on the part of some of these TPs.

[ensign14]

The journalists are the only ones who can bring a bit of scrutiny to a sport that lacks decent governance.

 

Yeah, but they don't, do they?  The journalists are just as reliant on F1 for their jobs.  The journalists should all have been writing editorials about the double points rule en masse about how it was a disgrace to the sport.  Instead, radio silence.

[BRG]

Why would a racing journalist want to do anything except promote F1? That's their job, right?

Is it?  I thought they were employed by media organisations, not FOM.

[Timstr11]

Yeah, but they don't, do they?  The journalists are just as reliant on F1 for their jobs.  The journalists should all have been writing editorials about the double points rule en masse about how it was a disgrace to the sport.  Instead, radio silence.

 

I agree it is way below what I'd expect. They're all part of that bubble, unfortunately.

Which is why any inkling of censorship should be strongly criticized.

[pRy]

If you're running an international business, you need to be prepared for questions like this.

It's just amateur hour on the part of some of these TPs.

 

Team principles aren't really running international businesses tho. They just run the teams that turn up at the races. And Christian's point was the teams go where the FIA tell them to go. The teams have never picked which races they'll attend and which they won't based on any geopolitical issues that happen to be kicking off in the local area. They just go and they race. In the same way the F1 journalists turn up and do their jobs. It's what they do. It's the nature of the sport. So it's perhaps understandable that they're getting a little frustrated with being questioned about the F1 calendar. If the journalists want to build a story on that why aren't they asking Jean or Bernie to comment? 

 

It's interesting that it's not just Christian who feels these press conferences are too negative. I thought perhaps he was just having a bad day yesterday (could speculate why) but it seems the other team principles may be feeling the same way.

[sosidge]

There is a difference between asking a valid question and one that is deliberately intended to cause embarrassment and negative publicity. The question about North Korea is firmly in the latter camp. Asking for withdrawal of accreditation seems entirely reasonable.

[ensign14]

I agree it is way below what I'd expect. They're all part of that bubble, unfortunately.

 

 

It's why one of the best books on F1 was written by a non-F1 journalist, Ted Simon, who spent 1970 with the March team, wrote all sorts of scabrous stuff about certain aspects of the sport, then buggered off before the proverbial hit the fan.

[ensign14]

There is a difference between asking a valid question and one that is deliberately intended to cause embarrassment and negative publicity. The question about North Korea is firmly in the latter camp. Asking for withdrawal of accreditation seems entirely reasonable.

 

North Korea bans journalists from visiting, so perhaps the question is perfectly valid.

[Argentum]

Is it worth asking if Ralf Bach went to Bahrain and China when the F1 races were there, and does he plan on going to Russia?

 

And, if so, what were his reasons for going, or did he boycott them in protest?

[RockyRaccoon68]

First Horner and now Boullier think they should be able to control what the press talk about?  What next, hire a minister for propaganda? 

[Anders Torp]

 That said, I know of at least one incident in the past decade where there were accreditation threats.

So what was that about?

[Timstr11]

Team principles aren't really running international businesses tho. They just run the teams that turn up at the races. And Christian's point was the teams go where the FIA tell them to go. The teams have never picked which races they'll attend and which they won't based on any geopolitical issues that happen to be kicking off in the local area. They just go and they race. In the same way the F1 journalists turn up and do their jobs. It's what they do. It's the nature of the sport. So it's perhaps understandable that they're getting a little frustrated with being questioned about the F1 calendar. If the journalists want to build a story on that why aren't they asking Jean or Bernie to comment? 

 

It's interesting that it's not just Christian who feels these press conferences are too negative. I thought perhaps he was just having a bad day yesterday (could speculate why) but it seems the other team principles may be feeling the same way.

Come on. F1 is a business that travels to various countries where there is potential for questions about them going there.

It should be expected from a TP to be able to answer or defer the question without any outburst. Read the FIA PC transcript and see how Kaltenborn and Williams responded. 

 

(BTW, Christian H. does not always do what he's told by the FIA. Remember the fuel flow meter saga? Good on him)

 

What i'm trying to say is that teams are not totally powerless. They do have some influence.

 

Speaking of negativity. Looking at this forum, the negative questions are a reflection of how many of us feel about various aspects of this sport. So again, TPs should not be surprised by the questions.

Edited by Timstr11, 26 July 2014 - 18:58.

[Fastcake]

Totally agree with Eric. Ask questions about racing not about politics. FOM and FIA are the ones in control. Why keep asking the same loaded questions over and over again.

 

We're talking about the same teams who have a significant representation on F1's decision making bodies, that have openly demanded Bernie to arrange races in America, and in recent years have fought with the FIA and FOM, which culminated in a threatened breakaway series and a draft calendar? Which funnily enough did not include either Russia or Azerbaijan.

 

For better or worse, the teams have shown they have plenty of influence over major decisions in F1, when it suits them to excise it. The teams are using the excuse of having no power, or the even worse one of "sport and politics don't mix", to mask the fact they are not speaking out because they stand to benefit from the millions of pounds Azerbaijan are paying to host this race. Christian Horner's sanctimonious bullshit that journalists should only report the racing is sadly typical of the powers that control this sport.

[sosidge]

North Korea bans journalists from visiting, so perhaps the question is perfectly valid.

 

"Mr Horner, you used team orders against Mark Webber. Would you use team orders again, and do you also think that Australians deserve to be treated like second class citizens in all walks of life?"

 

That is the level of question that Mr Bach asked. A relevant sporting question followed by a bit of inflammatory nonsense.

[S3baman]

 

...So did anyone actually answer the question?

 

No one gave an answer to that specifically. The principals said they will race wherever FOM and FIA decide to as per their agreement

[Lemans]

There is a difference between asking a valid question and one that is deliberately intended to cause embarrassment and negative publicity. The question about North Korea is firmly in the latter camp. Asking for withdrawal of accreditation seems entirely reasonable.

 

So the press shouldn't ask certain questions because it might hurt somones feelings?

Maybe the FIA and Team principals should get together and make a list of "acceptable questions" and hand them out to the journalists before the press confrences so they don't offend or inconvenience anyone too important.

[Anders Torp]

Maybe the FIA and Team principals should get together and make a list of "acceptable questions" and hand them out to the journalists before the press confrences so they don't offend or inconvenience anyone too important.

It already seems to work like that most the time.

[brr]

So the press shouldn't ask certain questions because it might hurt somones feelings?

Maybe the FIA and Team principals should get together and make a list of "acceptable questions" and hand them out to the journalists before the press confrences so they don't offend or inconvenience anyone too important.

 

Press should ask F1-related questions, not make political statements which are disguised as F1-related questions.

[ardbeg]

Totally agree with Eric. Ask questions about racing not about politics. FOM and FIA are the ones in control. Why keep asking the same loaded questions over and over again.

 

I despite that sort of journalism and is one of the main reasons why I haven't read a newspaper for years. Media these days is all about pushing peoples buttons to start arguments on their web pages to drive up the traffic.

Do you think that there are no politics behind the decisions of wanting to host a GP? F1 is more about politics than racing and to your question  - "Why keep asking the same loaded questions over and over again" - I think the answer is obvious and pretty much highlighted by your wording.

[jjcale]

People's Democratic Republic of Formula One ....

[ensign14]

"Mr Horner, you used team orders against Mark Webber. Would you use team orders again, and do you also think that Australians deserve to be treated like second class citizens in all walks of life?"

 

That is the level of question that Mr Bach asked. A relevant sporting question followed by a bit of inflammatory nonsense.

 

On the scale of outrages, that ranks somewhat below giving succour to a regime responsible for shooting down a civilian aircraft.

[ElDictatore]

So the press shouldn't ask certain questions because it might hurt somones feelings?

Maybe the FIA and Team principals should get together and make a list of "acceptable questions" and hand them out to the journalists before the press confrences so they don't offend or inconvenience anyone too important.

 

That's not the point he was saying. They shouldn't ask questions which serve no informative purpose. Inconvenience is surely part of the job, but there's a difference between asking a question to get more information or just try to cause an uproar. Because they (in that case Mr. Bach) won't give a damn if they would go to N.Korea. Mr. Bach would go there too without any kind of hesitation. The main intention of that question is a big headline, nothing else. And frankly speaking, no country is clean. If they go there or not does not make a difference whatsoever. It didn't when they went to Bahrain and it wont when they would go to Russia. TP's and Teams are there to race. Yes such questions can come every now but it gets blown out of proportion right now and I'm pretty sure that the annoyance of the TP's comes from the fact that they have other stuff to focus on right now.

[chipmcdonald]

If there wasn't the smell of truth to the question, such a ridiculous response would not have occurred.  Perfectly legitimate question.

 

...and the response of a 1%'er - he's going to have the guy's credentials revoked?  "I hath spoken, thine will be done"...  

 

I didn't think I cared for Boullier based on little things in the past he's said, now I'm pretty sure I don't like the guy. 

 

 

[johnmhinds]

That's not the point he was saying. They shouldn't ask questions which serve no informative purpose. Inconvenience is surely part of the job, but there's a difference between asking a question to get more information or just try to cause an uproar. Because they (in that case Mr. Bach) won't give a damn if they would go to N.Korea. Mr. Bach would go there too without any kind of hesitation. The main intention of that question is a big headline, nothing else. And frankly speaking, no country is clean. If they go there or not does not make a difference whatsoever. It didn't when they went to Bahrain and it wont when they would go to Russia. TP's and Teams are there to race. Yes such questions can come every now but it gets blown out of proportion right now and I'm pretty sure that the annoyance of the TP's comes from the fact that they have other stuff to focus on right now.

 

 

This is the same Bahrain which had a race cancelled for political/safety reasons 3 years ago right?

 

Given that precedent I don't see how asking the same questions about the validity of any other race is somehow out of line.

 

Most teams will have probably had meetings discussing the safety of attending the Russian GP behind closed doors.

[Lemans]

That's not the point he was saying. They shouldn't ask questions which serve no informative purpose. Inconvenience is surely part of the job, but there's a difference between asking a question to get more information or just try to cause an uproar. Because they (in that case Mr. Bach) won't give a damn if they would go to N.Korea. Mr. Bach would go there too without any kind of hesitation. The main intention of that question is a big headline, nothing else. And frankly speaking, no country is clean. If they go there or not does not make a difference whatsoever. It didn't when they went to Bahrain and it wont when they would go to Russia. TP's and Teams are there to race. Yes such questions can come every now but it gets blown out of proportion right now and I'm pretty sure that the annoyance of the TP's comes from the fact that they have other stuff to focus on right now.

 

It doesn't matter what Mr. Bach thinks or if he would go to those countries or not. Nor does it matter if he is a hypocrite or not. He's not important. It's the question that is important and what does matter is what F1 thinks and if they would go to those places.