Ahead of his eightieth birthday, Bernie Ecclestone has been talking to various sections of the media, giving his view on all manner of issues.

Though he may have small feet, the F1 supremo has a habit - much like Prince Philip - of putting them firmly in his mouth, over the years he has managed to upset all manner of people, though in all honesty this is often because of a (deliberate?) failure to appreciate his somewhat wicked sense of humour.

He upset women by comparing Indy Car's Danika Patrick to white goods, suggesting she should remain in the kitchen, while last year he caused uproar when he suggested that Hitler was a man who got things done.

While we should not expect to see him on the streets of London any time soon waving a 'Death to Democracy' placard, the man who has nurtured the sport over the last thirty-odd years and turned it into a global business admits that he believes sometimes a dictator is precisely what is needed.

In an interview with the Guardian, Ecclestone is asked about last year's faux pas regarding Hitler. "I get myself into so much trouble when I say these things," the Englishman admits, "but I don't think democracy is the way to run anything. Whether it's a company or anything you need someone who is going to turn the lights on and off.

"We had Mrs Thatcher, he continues, a name that will have Guardian readers choking on their muesli, "and when she was in charge she did turn the lights on and off. She brought the country to where it was before it got muddled up again."

The soon-to-be octogenarian, not for the first time, subsequently admits that his former 'partner in crime', Max Mosley, would have been the man to sort the country out.

"He would have been a very good prime minister," he says. "Max would've been ideal. He would know how to handle things. Max had an awful lot going for him. Maybe people thought he was too clever."

While many have a lot to be grateful to Ecclestone for, many fans see him as a man without passion, a man who puts money before all else, a man seemingly intent on destroying 'their' sport. Those of a certain age, however, remember when the sport got scant coverage from the media, when the sport was regarded as elitist. Yes, he has made a vast amount of money, and made many within the paddock, and his own inner circle, wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, but he has created a sport which often dominates the headlines, if often for the wrong reasons.

Thanks to the sterling job done by our politicians, the old notion of retiring at 65 is a thing of the past, nonetheless working flat-out at 80 is not what most envisage for the Autumn of their years. However, not for the first time, Ecclestone admits that it is his work which keeps him going.

"The way I feel at the moment, why stop?" he says. "I do it because I enjoy it. And yesterday is gone. I don't care what happened yesterday.

"What else would I do?" he adds. "People retire to die."