Ecclestone vows to maintain iron grip on Formula One

Bernie Ecclestone came out fighting against plans to clip his wings as Formula One chief executive and made clear he had no intention of relinquishing his power any time soon.

“I run the company as if it belonged to me,” said a defiant Mr Ecclestone, now embroiled in a power struggle with F1’s major shareholder, private equity group CVC Capital Partners.

The man who has run F1 for more than 30 years is resisting a proposal from Donald Mackenzie, CVC co-founder, to install former Diageo boss Paul Walsh as chairman with executive duties.

The proposal is part of an F1 succession strategy devised by Mackenzie that would gradually reduce Mr Ecclestone’s iron grip on the running of the motorsport series. Mr Ecclestone, 84, summoned the media to the headquarters of Formula One Management in Knightsbridge to say it was by no means certain Mr Walsh would become chairman.

Ahead of a planned meeting with Walsh yesterday afternoon, Mr Ecclestone said of the proposal: “Donald’s directing it.”

Asked about the idea of working alongside Mr Walsh, Mr Ecclestone said: “I don’t need to do anything with anybody. Fortunately enough, I’m over the retirement age, got a few dollars in the bank still, so not looking for a job.

“I’m happy here as long as the board are happy with me. When I think I can’t deliver any longer, I shall retire.” He had not yet reached that moment, he added. F1 has for years been transfixed by the succession issue, and Mr Mackenzie’s proposal is CVC’s first genuine attempt to address it.

He held several conversations in the latter part of the season with F1 team principals and investors, but held back until after the final Grand Prix before indicating he was ready to move.

The proposal was due to be unveiled at an F1 board meeting in Jersey on Monday.

Walsh would be nominated as successor to Nestlé chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, who is having long-term medical treatment.

But the board meeting did not even discuss the chairmanship.

Ecclestone’s clear opposition to the idea appears to have prompted Mackenzie to hold fire. On suggestions that Walsh would try to rein in Ecclestone, the chief executive quipped: “He would be unique if he could do that.”

Did he think  Walsh would try to rein him in? “Depends,” said  Ecclestone. “First he’s got to be appointed.”

Mr Ecclestone did reiterate that he would like to bring a sponsorship expert into Formula One Management. But to the idea of gradually handing over responsibilities to Mr Walsh and others, he said: “Let’s have a look and see.”

He added: “I‘ve got a little bit of experience. I’m in the good position that people trust me reliably.

When I shake hands with them, they don’t need a contract, they know that it’s done, that’s the end of it. It takes an awful long time to get that sort of reputation. And whoever’s doing what I do would take a long time to achieve that.”

Mr Walsh was “one of a number of people” suggested to become chairman and was not a shoo-in for the job, said Mr Ecclestone.

Finding “a new Bernie” was a bit of a nonsense, he said. “If I died now, there’s enough people in the company that could continue running the company in the way we’ve set things up.”

If he controlled the board, he added, he would choose as his successor Sacha Woodward-Hill, his close aide and F1’s legal counsel.

His objections to Mr Walsh appear to be related to the hands-on role Mr Mackenzie envisages for him.

Mr Ecclestone did recognise that if CVC wanted “a sort of a front guy” to help steer F1 to the private equity group’s long-cherished hope of flotation, “the right person would come along. Maybe this Mr Walsh being the chairman would be the right person”.

The problem for CVC, he added, was that F1 was “a bit unique to other companies they’ve bought”.

Mr Ecclestone stirred more controversy by saying the financial problems affecting some of the sport’s weaker teams could be resolved by allowing teams to race in cars with the old formula V8 and V10 engines.

He intends to propose the rule change at a summit of F1 teams next week. But it is bound to be opposed by the Fédération International de l’Automobile, the regulator, which was instrumental in changing the formula to the new hybrid turbo V6 engine.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY – Ecclestone on . . ..

“It’s been difficult at certain stages of the year” – on 2014, a year which included his bribery trial in Germany (the trial ended when he agreed to pay $100m to settle the case). “It’s not easy taking your mind away when someone says you might get 10 years in prison” – on whether the job helped distract him from the trial.

“Since people have been breaking my balls on this social media, I’ve been looking at this tweeting thing and I can’t see anything on there except [Mercedes team principal] Toto Wolff and one of my daughters. And I thought, what does it ever do? There’s a few idiots who put things on there. How does it ever help Formula One?” – on being criticised over comments