FOTA is unnecessary says Bernie

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has dubbed the Formula One Teams Association as unnecessary.

Speaking at what appeared to be a very relaxed interview with himself, and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and formula1.com, Bernie spoke a lot about what Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel have managed to achieve by [virtually] winning back-to-back Formula One championships.

It's a nice interview which is far too long to completely summarise here, but it discusses everything from the dominance of Red Bull and Vettel, how underrated team-mate Mark Webber is and their own earlier days as drivers.

But the headline grabbing comment came towards the end of the interview when formula1.com directly asked Ecclestone what he thought of FOTA [Formula One Teams Association].

'I try not to think of them.' he said.

Then when the point was pushed he added: 'It is an unnecessary association of people who should put their sole emphasis on getting competitive cars on the grid. It’s just more of what they don’t have to think of. I look after that so there are enough financial resources.'

FOTA was initially founded in 2008 during complicated discussions over the Concorde Agreement and aims to give a united position for the teams in discussions with the FIA and Formula One Management. Recently they have held numerous talks regarding the current state of F1 and recent regulation alterations in the sport.

All the teams on the grid are currently members of FOTA except HRT.