07/09/2016
NEWS STORY
Bernie Ecclestone claims that in the event of takeover of F1 he has been asked to stay on.
After years of claims, some of them quite ludicrous, that Formula One was to get a new owner, the media went into overdrive over the Monza weekend.
It is claimed that John Malone's Liberty Media is putting together an $8.5bn bid for the sport, which would mean farewell to CVC and, most likely, Bernie Ecclestone.
While it was claimed that the deal would go through on Tuesday, it is now said that it will be finalised today... or possibly tomorrow.
That said, it is understood that at this stage it will be a partial buy-out with the remainder of the deal to follow.
While Bernie Ecclestone was saying very little about the deal over the Monza weekend, indeed it is understood CVC chairman Donald Mackenzie is handling negotiations, today he said that the deal will not mean an end to his forty year reign.
"They want me to be here for three years," the 85-year-old told Reuters.
However, it is unlikely that Ecclestone will wield anything like the power he currently enjoys, for it is widely anticipated that Chase Carey, executive vice-chairman of Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox and a director of Sky Plc, will replace Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as chairman.
"He can do lots of things that I haven't done with this social media, which he seems to be in touch with," said Ecclestone. "He's been dealing with sponsorship with his TV people. Between us we'll get on with it."
Whatever the timescale, the multi-billion dollar deal will not be the work of a moment and consequently Ecclestone will miss next weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, opting to remain at his Knightsbridge HQ.
"Because all this is going through, they want me to be there to help them with all sorts of things," he said of CVC. "I can't afford to be away for five to six days."