You can't help those who won't help themselves. When someone is addicted to drugs, to alcohol, to food, to anything, they must first acknowledge that they have a problem and then actively want to seek help.
At the moment, Formula One seems to be addicted to the pain of self-flagellation and self-destruction.
The sport's key stakeholders all speak of the importance of attracting more manufacturers to F1. The desire to bring more OEMs into the fold was a major factor behind the switch to the current power units, the thinking being that hybrids, V6s, and energy-harvesting everything were more in line with the future of road car technology than naturally-aspirated, fuel-hungry V8s.
As history has since revealed, Mercedes nailed the move to the new power units, Renault and Ferrari were rather less successful, and Honda was seduced by the challenge and the opportunity to return to F1 as an engine supplier after having pulled out of team ownership at the end of 2008.
Renault continue to struggle, Honda's return has been somewhat problematic, and Ferrari has made impressive progress since 2014. Mercedes' power unit remains the class of the field, and for that they have faced serious criticism from the sport's commercial rights holder.
In a recent interview with Sport Bild, Ecclestone is quoted as having said "Toto [Wolff] can have a lovely inscription on his gravestone that says 'I helped to kill Formula One.' He did not do it alone, but he helped."
The F1 supremo's comments relate to Mercedes' success with their hybrid power unit, a device which took considerable investment from Mercedes' corporate HQ and significant brainpower from Mercedes personnel to develop. That the team were able to run away with the 2014 season and are the ones to beat in 2015 is testament to their success and ingenuity, two things which should be celebrated.
Instead, Ecclestone lays the blame for falling global interest in Formula One solely at the feet of the hybrid power units. In so doing the 84-year-old appears to have forgotten that the 30% decline in global viewing figures has taken place over a five-year period, only one of which saw the V6 hybrids in action.
Fan discontent with the change of power source may not have reversed F1's popular decline, but they were already switching off in significant numbers for the last four years of the V8s whose return Ecclestone continues to push for.
"I will not watch Formula One destroy itself because some people made a mistake," Ecclestone is reported as having said in the same interview. "The fans want the volume, the teams want the low cost -- and even the racing was better. ... I will try to intervene and convince the FIA. And if certain people complain, let them complain. I guarantee that we will win. After 50 years of work, I will not allow Formula One to be destroyed out of pure selfishness."
Given the public drubbing Ecclestone has given to the only mainstream automotive manufacturer currently experiencing success in Formula One (Ferrari is too niche, Renault continue to struggle, and Honda's current state is best ignored for kindness' sake), why on earth would any other manufacturers want to come on board?
As things stand one can either fail to succeed on track, which brings no marketing benefit whatsoever, or they can perform spectacularly well and be accused by the most high profile man in the sport of being the architects of destruction. It's a lose-lose situation from anyone's perspective.