16/10/2017
NEWS STORY
Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that following his removal as F1 supremo he is upping sticks and heading to Switzerland.
"We are just setting things up," he told the Mail on Sunday. "I have had Swiss residency for nearly thirty years. The intention ages ago was that I would build a house there and move the F1 company abroad, but I couldn't get all the people I needed to leave England.
"That's the reason I stayed," he adds. "But now I don't care about that. I can just go over there and live. I will take a few members of staff, but not many.
"I will still come back to London from time to time, to see friends," he reveals the 87-year-old understood to be retaining the Princes Gate address from which he ran the sport since 1985. "I will also spend more time in Brazil, where we have a coffee farm. But Switzerland will be my main home."
Ecclestone took the opportunity to confirm that despite being given the infamous title Chairman Emeritus, he was effectively fired by F1's new owners just 48 hours after they took control.
"I didn't choose to leave, I was fired," he reveals. "Chase called me on the Sunday, and said, 'Can I see you tomorrow?' He said he'd come to the office. I said, 'Yeah, I'll be there' "He said, 'You know we completed the deal on Friday?' 'I said, “Yes, congratulations.” ‘He said, “I need you to stand down as chief executive. That's the job I want.”.
"I said he had bought the car and might as well drive it. I resigned. They had all the documents on them for me to do that. It was a surprise because I was told they wanted me to stay on a three-year contract. I could have made a bit of a fuss, but I didn't.
"If the boot had been on the other foot, I would not have done it the way they did it. They would have been better off working with me for six months and seeing how it went. Anyway, they elevated me to such a high position in the company that I can't see what's going on."
While he will attend the Brazilian Grand Prix next month, Ecclestone admits to being persona non grata as far as the sport's new management is concerned.
"Chase sent a message to one of the girls in the office to tell me that they haven't got so many offices at the circuits, only what the race promoter gives them," said Ecclestone. "There are three of them so the three offices are being used. So basically they don't want me to come to races. It would have been just as easy to have said that to me. Anyway, I have obliged them."
While the media 'love-in' with Liberty continues, Ecclestone shares the same opinion as Force India's Bob Fernley, and Pitpass.
"They haven't done anything yet as far as I can see. They said they wouldn't talk, they would act. They said I talked before doing anything. I didn't. I got things done quietly. All they do is talk.
"If I say I am going to whack someone next time I see them, I'd better bloody well do it. Chase had preconceived ideas of what needed to be done. But now he's on board, it isn't quite as easy as he thought. So I feel sorry for him."
Finally, asked about the championship outcome, the veteran is in no doubt.
"Lewis will win it in Austin next race,' he says. "He has driven superbly this season, while Ferrari awoke and then fell asleep."