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The Bottom Line

Susan Watkins tells the story in a classic biographical narrative. Her previous books included biographies of Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I and Jane Austen. As the wife of the former leading F1 medical man, Sid Watkins, and a friend of Bernie, the author is both one of the best placed to write this but also one who may not have been inclined to touch on more sensitive areas. But those subjects have been handled by books by other authors, and so this makes an excellent overview of the life of the modern day Barnum.

Pros

• A well told story that gives the broad outlines of an exceptional career.
• An insider's point of view.

Cons

• The author's too close connection with the subject.

Description

• Author:

  Susan Watkins

• Publisher:

  Haynes Publishing

• ISBN:

  978-0-85733-033-8

Guide Review - Bernie: The Biography of Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone came from a humble childhood as the son of a sea fisherman in England. He started out as a used car and motorcycle salesman, and used his love of racing and deal making to turn the series of Formula 1 into one of the top major sporting events in the world.

Ecclestone the racer

Ecclestone started out racing motorcycles, and then moved on to racing cars. But he was born blind in his right eye and this had an effect on the racing. Besides, he was mostly a deal maker and a salesman. So it was that he would be involved in racing on and off from the very beginnings of the F1 championship in 1950 and through the next two decades while he built up a personal fortune selling cars, motorcycles and then in real estate.

From Driver Manager to Team Owner

Bernie would manage drivers in both the 1950s, Stuart Lewis-Evens, and 1960s, Jochen Rindt, both of whom would die in racing accidents. The latter driver, nevertheless, became posthumous world champion. Bernie would then go on to buy the Brabham team and eventually lead it to both the constructors' world title and drivers' world title.

Ecclestone the F1 organizer

But it was in deal making and organizing teams and the championship that Bernie would prove to make his biggest mark in the sport. He began by running the Formula One Constructors' Association and acting as a unified front to bring a better deal to the teams vis-a-vis race organizers and the series' organizer. When in the early 1980s he gained control of the series' television rights, he was on his way to turning the sport into one of the three most watched global sports on television, behind the Olympics and World Cup soccer. He also made a personal fortune of $4.5 billion.

Throughout his career as the Formula 1 promoter, Bernie Ecclestone has often been a little understood man from an often secretive sounding past. Finally, this book tells the Ecclestone story from his boyhood as a sea fisherman's son to his rise up the ranks in business and in Formula 1.