08/03/2016
NEWS STORY
Ignoring, for the moment, the controversies, the fact is that Bernie Ecclestone is 85, an age when most successful businessmen would be enjoying the fruits of the endeavours.
In spite of the obvious similarities to the infamous Mr Burns of Simpsons fame, the tyrannical zillionaire of indeterminate (old) age, who has survived numerous disasters and even attempts on his life, the fact is that Mr E is not getting any younger.
Consequently, anticipating the moment when Ecclestone decides he wants to call it a day, the board of the sport's parent company, Delta Topco, is to meet to discuss life after him.
However, it is not just about Ecclestone per se, it is understood the board is to discuss a report by Jean-Marc Huet, F1 board member and former director of Unliver, who has pointed to a number of issues including succession.
Issues such as falling viewing figures, lack of sponsorship and the failure to increase profitability - even though the sport remains a cash cow for those concerned who still reap vast profits without actually investing into it.
Of course, the situation is not helped by Ecclestone's afore mentioned controversies, his public criticism of the sport - which has angered Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche and FIA president Jean Todt, amongst others - the tinkering with the rules, to the point where most don't have a clue what is happening, his numerous foot in mouth moments and the infamous bribery trial in Germany which resulted in a £60m payment to end the case. To name but a few.
Whilst there is no doubt that Ecclestone, in some ways single-handed, has made the sport what it is today, some will hold that very fact against him.
Donald Mackenzie, boss of CVC Capital Partners, which owns the controlling stake in the sport, is a friend and fan of Ecclestone's but is also a businessman, and must be wondering if someone else, maybe a small team of people, could do better and without the publicity, the sport, all too often, making it into the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Mackenzie is known to have wanted to bring in former Diageo boss Paul Walsh to work alongside Ecclestone, the F1 supremo understood to have talked him out of the idea.
At a time the sport is facing the prospect of investigation by the European Union Competition Commission, following complaints by Sauber and Force India, for as long as anyone can remember, Ecclestone has done the various deals that make the sport what it is today, often on a handshake. For a man wary of social media, and even email, this is not the way to take the sport forward.
Ecclestone, as ever, appears totally unperturbed indeed, one cannot help but feel that he already has his next moves(s) planned.