Ecclestone: ‘My replacement should be a used car dealer’

The tireless Bernie Ecclestone

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said that he remains hesitant over who will replace him as head of the sport but stresses that retirement is not being considered ahead of his 80th birthday next week.

Born on 28 October 1930, Ecclestone lived through World War II in England before moving into Formula 1 as driver manager for notable names such as 1970 World Champion Jochen Rindt.

Having run the Brabham team between 1972 and 1987, his overall control of the sport came through developing the sale of television rights from the late 1970s onwards, with companies Formula One Management (FOM) and Formula One Administration (FOA) both being owned by Alpha Prema, of which he is a joint owner.

Asked if he has any vision of where F1 could lead to over the course of the next ten years, Ecclestone told the official F1 website. “No. I am worried about next year! Anyone who starts telling you today what is going to happen in three years is wrong; otherwise we wouldn’t have the problems we are just going through."

However, Bernie is confident that he is not considering retirement at present. “I always wanted to run a business," he said. “I realized that to be a racing driver you need to do it full time – and I was not prepared to do that. I wanted to run a business.

“I like what I am doing – otherwise I wouldn’t do it. I am lucky enough to be able to have that choice. If I don’t want to do it, I don’t have to do it.

"I don’t do it for money but if I do something I want to make sure that things are done properly; that’s the same with boiling an egg or doing an important contract – if I have the feeling I can’t do it properly, then I wouldn’t do it."

Asked to name a probable replacement for the day he does elect to leave, Ecclestone replied: “I have no idea. They should probably look out for another used car dealer!"