Bernie gone by Singapore?

[Scott]

EJ just said that something called Liberty Media is about to take a "significant" shareholding in F1, and with that will bring a new FOM CEO

...wow, if it's true.

I never thought Bernie would leave until his cold dead hands were pried from the reigns of F1.

[Jericoke]

I dunno.

I remember last time he stepped away, basically screwed over a dozen parties, ended up back in charge with more money than ever.

[cosworth151]

As Bernie has said before, don't believe anything until the money is in the bank.

[Scott]

A little legitimacy...

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37273066

[Monty]

An 'entertainment company' owning F1 could be good I guess. I do not know anything about Chase Carey (apart from his obvious liking for questionable facial hair!). His CV suggests he is a good business man but I assume he has no motor racing connections and of course being American he will know nothing about F1 (I'm now cowering in a corner laughing  )

[Scott]

....and of course being American he will know nothing about F1 (I'm now cowering in a corner laughing  )

Thay fergot t'put fenders on them cars!   

[lkjohnson1950]

Excuse me? Some of us on here might be offended by that!!
 

[Scott]

Excuse me? Some of us on here might be offended by that!!
 

Oh SORRY, people make fun of us sorry Canadians all the time 

[lkjohnson1950]

No! Really?!

 

[John S]

Reports of Bernie's demise seem just a tad premature:-

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/17484973/bernie-ecclestone-asked-stay-f1-another-three-years

[cosworth151]

Bernie is also saying that he might not accept their contract:

http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/bernie-ecclestone-not-committing-any-new-f1-ownership-group

If Rotten Rupert & Fox are involved, I don't blame him. That will also probably mean that we here in the States will loose NBC's excellent (and available on basic cable) F1 coverage & go back to Fox's horrible & unavailable stuff again.

[Scott]

Regarding John and Cos's posts...

The ESPN quotes tell me two things.  One, that Bernie won't be in Singapore, just like EJ predicted, and two - "asked to stay in Formula One for three more years" does not suggest to me that he has been asked to stay on in his current role.  Even later in the article he indicates that Carey will take over key roles that Bernie had previously.

And the Autoweek article seems to be more about if Bernie will stick around in F1 or not.  The deal WILL go through according to all reports, and Bernie only owns about 5% of the stock, so he very likely doesn't have much say at the end of the day....though Bernie has looked down for the count numerous times before. 

[Jericoke]

Bernie is also saying that he might not accept their contract:

http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/bernie-ecclestone-not-committing-any-new-f1-ownership-group

If Rotten Rupert & Fox are involved, I don't blame him. That will also probably mean that we here in the States will loose NBC's excellent (and available on basic cable) F1 coverage & go back to Fox's horrible & unavailable stuff again.

I can't imagine Fox is buying the sport to bury it.  Network TV is desperate for live programming to sustain their business model against Tivo/Netflix.

Expect the 'Americanization' of the sport:  more US based races.  More American drivers.  More American sponsors. 

With any luck, we'll see races in Indy again, and hopefully embrace the 'fan experience' that the Indy GPs were famous for (and NASCAR/IndyCar do quite well).  I would also say there is a possibility of F1 racing on an oval.