Formula One is understood to have begun the process of finding a successor to Bernie Ecclestone after Liberty Media’s purchase of the sport last week.
The new owner has stressed its intent to change the way F1 is run and has already appointed Chase Carey, a former executive vice-president of 21st Century Fox, as chairman of the Formula One Group. Ecclestone has said the company wants him to stay on as chief executive for a further three years but it is believed to be unlikely he will see out that period of time. The CEO and founder of Formula E, Alejandro Agag, is among the leading contenders to replace him.
Neither Carey nor Ecclestone are expected to attend the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend, the first since the deal was announced, as the business behind the sport continues apace behind the scenes.
The 85-year-old Ecclestone has run F1 virtually single-handed for almost 40 years but his disinterest in engaging with social media and a younger audience is at odds with Liberty’s intent to expand the sport using digital content, greater promotion and marketing.
The role, which has seen Ecclestone return huge profits to the previous owners, CVC, based mainly on the sale of TV rights and hosting fees for circuits, is expected to split into two – one to oversee commercial affairs and one the sporting side. It is a division that many believe the sport should have implemented some time ago.
Liberty’s deal is expected to be finally concluded in six months’ time, after which Ecclestone may choose to step down. The former FIA president Max Mosley, who ran the sport’s governing body in close coordination with Ecclestone between 1993 and 2009, told the BBC that his friend would walk away if Liberty interfered in the running of the business. He said: “These people may take a more active role and they want to sort of run the business but that could bring them into conflict with Bernie.”
Liberty has been clear that it will be taking a hands-on role in F1, indicated not least with the appointment of Carey, in contrast to CVC, which was almost entirely uninvolved in the day to day running of the sport.
Carey is understood to have already met with several of the leading teams in the UK, establishing personal relationships as part of F1’s reorganisation, while Liberty has already proposed the idea of including the teams as future investors in the sport.
Agag is a former politician from Spain, who ran a successful consultancy business and also owns a GP2 team. His skilful handling of Formula E has been much admired, not least in the way the sport has embraced social media and fan engagement. Equally, although Formula E struggled financially in its opening year, Liberty invested in it and Agag has consequently worked with Carey, noting: “I know Chase from the past and it is a luxury for motorsport to have someone like him involved.”
The other favoured candidate is Zak Brown, the founder and CEO of JMI, the world’s largest motorsport marketing agency, who as a consequence is already well-known to many of the teams. He runs his own team, United Autosports, which competes in sportscar racing and has also worked with Carey in the past. He has extensive inside knowledge of F1 and impeccable commercial credentials and is believed to have been one of the main candidates to ultimately replace Ecclestone when he was rumoured to being made to stand down by CVC at the end of 2014.
However, any changeover is unlikely to happen dramatically unless it is at Ecclestone’s behest as his knowledge of the commercial deals in place, many based on personal relationships and long-standing arrangements, are crucial to the sport. Liberty will need to ensure it has a full grasp of all of them before moving on with a replacement.
Mosley also noted that he did not believe the sporting side of F1 was being run properly, a criticism that has been widely aired and that will likely result in it being controlled separately from the commercial business.
The Mercedes executive director, Toto Wolff, has been associated with the new role, as have Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, and the former McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, who is currently the CEO of Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup team.
