Bernie Ecclestone’s name has long been synonymous with Formula One, having been at the helm for the best part of 40 years.

The clock may well be ticking though, as Liberty Media looks set to complete the purchase of a controlling stake in Formula One within the next few days.

This ain’t good news for Bernie and his position of chief executive, with pundit Eddie Jordan claiming the 85-year-old might be gone by the Singapore Open in two weeks time.

The succinct reply from Bernie courtesy of the Guardian:

…when this was all put to Ecclestone after Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix he had a one-word reply. “Bullshit,” he said.

Toto Wolff, the head of motorsport at Mercedes and one of the most powerful figures in Formula One, believes the sport does owe a debt of gratitude to Bernie:

Regarding Ecclestone, Wolff added: “I don’t know what happens in terms of management. Bernie has done an awesome job…and made it what it is. He has built an empire and we are all benefiting from that empire.

“That thing generates millions of live views and full racetracks like we had today, and one and a half billion in profits every year, so he has done an awesome job. What the future will show is whether there are things that can be improved or not, I don’t know, but I don’t want to speculate because this is just wrong.”

Shame, it must be tough dealing with all that stress and managing your R45 billion empire at the same time.

You’re 85 Bernie, maybe it’s time to put your feet up?

[source:guardian]