Instead, Mr Ecclestone says the banker had threatened that if he were not
paid, he would give HM Revenue Customs alleged details of Mr Ecclestone’s
tax affairs.
Mr Ecclestone’s comments follow a stinging attack last week by Ferrari
chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, who said: “If Bernie is accused under
process, I think he will be the first to give a step back in the interests
of Formula
One.”
He added: “The era of the one-man show cannot continue. We are slowly
approaching the end of a period characterised by the style of one man who
has done significant things.”
Earlier this year, it came to light that, as part of the plans for the stalled
$10bn flotation of Formula One, CVC had engaged head-hunting agency Egon
Zehnder to draft a short- list of potential replacements.
However, Mr Ecclestone, 82, insists this doesn’t indicate that CVC has any
intention of getting rid of him.
“They said they had hired a head-hunter to find somebody in the event that I
was not going to be there – if I was going to die or something. It is the
normal thing they do to keep people happy,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.
Mr Ecclestone has run F1’s operating company, Formula One Management (FOM),
for nearly 40 years.
“There is not a thing that goes on at FOM without his knowledge,” says
long-time associate and three times F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart.
“I can understand people saying [F1] is never going to manage without Bernie
Ecclestone but the infrastructure is there. It’s all [at F1’s London HQ] in
Belgravia and there’s a lot of people there with a lot of knowledge.”
Sir Jackie dismisses speculation from within F1 that Red Bull Racing boss
Christian Horner will take over from Mr Ecclestone, having steered his team
to three championships since joining it in 2005.
“I doubt very much [Mr Ecclestone’s replacement] will be anybody in the F1
paddock and I don’t think it should be. I think they should go out and
head-hunt the best of all,” says Sir Jackie, who tips Ian Todd, president of
ISG, the stadium financing firm that helped to fund Wembley.