Ecclestone told the BBC it must honour its existing contract, but he is keen for the broadcaster to continue from 2019 onwards despite fears that they will leave the sport entirely as soon as next year. The corporation currently shares the rights with Sky, who show all the races live, while half are on free-to-air.
David Coulthard, who won 13 races in his F1 career, wrote to the BBC earlier this month that it would be deeply damaging to the sport if it was no longer on free-to-air television.
The Telegraph Sport columnist said: “My personal view is that if F1 allows itself to lose free-to-air television coverage in the UK, it will not only affect the popularity of the sport, and by extension the teams’ ability to raise money to compete, but it will also reduce its exposure to the next generations of engineers and mechanics.
“F1 has inspired people to enter a workforce that numbers tens of thousands of people – the drivers are just the lucky ones at the end of the rainbow… free-to-air television still reaches many more people than subscription and without it we would be moving into previously uncharted waters as far as F1 in the UK is concerned.”