Ecclestone Thwarted Plan For Luca Di Montezemolo To Run F1

Luca di Montezemolo

F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone "dismissed a plan for Luca di Montezemolo, the deposed president of Ferrari, to oversee the running of Formula One," according to Kevin Eason of the LONDON TIMES.

The "charismatic Italian, who led Ferrari through the team’s greatest years, was on the verge of heading the sport this season as F1’s owners searched for a successor to Ecclestone." Instead, Di Montezemolo "is leading the bid by Rome to win the 2024 Olympic Games."

Di Montezemolo is one of Ecclestone’s "oldest friends and allies" and Ecclestone acknowledged on Wednesday that he would have been "a good front man." But Ecclestone "did not believe that Di Montezemolo would have the all-consuming interest in running F1 that has helped to turn the man known simply as 'Bernie' into a legend among sport administrators."

Pointing to a pile of documents in his office at F1’s headquarters in Kensington, Ecclestone said, "The problem would have been that he would have been up front but he is not a day-to-day, hands-on guy."

The "fascinating revelation lifts the lid on the fevered machinations that took place late last year as CVC Capital Partners, the lead shareholders in the F1 business, searched for a replacement for Ecclestone" to run its £1B ($1.5B) sport. Former Diageo CEO Paul Walsh "was being lined up to take Ecclestone’s job of running F1 day-to-day."

That bid "was quickly seen off." Ecclestone said the board believed that “[Walsh] maybe was not good enough" but another source said that he was never given a chance to move in by Ecclestone, "who choked off CVC’s strategy." London Times