He’s a controversial figure who is in the headlines for one reason or another, but when exactly did Bernie Ecclestone sell F1 and leave the company? Why was he forced out?
No matter what you think of him, there is perhaps no-one else alive who has had a bigger impact on Formula 1 than Bernie Ecclestone.
It was he who managed to flog the TV rights to the series in the mid-1970s, and then strongarm himself into a position and power and then ran the series in cahoots with old mucker Max Mosley over the FIA.
The teams sometimes complained, but his ‘divide and conquer’ tactics often meant he came out in a stronger position than when he started – and with a few extra million in his back pocket.
As his influence over F1 wains, when did Bernie Ecclestone actually sell F1? When did he leave the company?
When did Bernie Ecclestone sell F1?
In the 1970s, Ecclestone was a key figure in the FISA/FOCA war – FISA being today’s FIA.
FISA wanted control but the teams, led by Ecclestone, who else? – demanded greater control and the running of the commercial side of things.
The eventual settlement had FISA look after the technical and sporting regulations, with Ecclestone and co in charge of the commercial sectors.
Technically, Bernie Ecclestone sold F1 in the early 2000s, to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, who built up shares in Formula One Group – the parent company of the series.
CVC essentially kept Ecclestone in place as CEO and gave him free reign to run F1 as he saw fit, but with the pressure of he now needed to make money for his bosses.
However, Bernie Ecclestone’s ultimate sale of F1 occurred in the winter of 2016 and 2017.
Around the time of the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix, news broke of American firm Liberty Media being interested in buying F1.
CVC sold up for $4.4 billion [£3.62bn], with John Malone’s company taking control.
Ecclestone was replaced as CEO by Chase Carey and moved up to Chairman Emeritus – a position he said he had never heard of and one which came with no real power.
The change Liberty has overseen
After he sold F1 in 2016, Bernie Ecclestone’s legacy was slowly dismantled by Liberty Media.
Firstly, they loosened filming rights for social media – with teams now allowed to post videos and content from inside the paddock. This had been banned under the Ecclestone rule.
Secondly, Ecclestone had never seen the point of attracting new fans – which F1 has done through the success of Drive to Survive on Netflix.
This has helped the series to finally crack the American enigma even Ecclestone couldn’t, with three races in the USA this year – at Austin, in Miami and a race down the strip in Las Vegas.