Yahoo Finance Bernie Ecclestone 'deposed' as F1 chief executive
Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed he is no longer the chief executive of Formula One (F1) after almost 40 years in charge, it has been reported.
The motorsport veteran was quoted by German magazine Auto, Motor and Sport as saying - "I was deposed today.
"This is official, I do not run the company any more."
The news was later officially confirmed by Liberty Media as it said it had completed its takeover of the sport after snapping up shares from private equity firm CVC (Taiwan OTC: 4744.TWO - news) last year.
Ecclestone's position had been in doubt since the sale of the sport's commercial rights to Liberty - with Sky News reporting at the weekend that the new owners were preparing to oust 86-year old Ecclestone .
City Editor Mark Kleinman also revealed that Liberty was preparing a wider boardroom shake-up as it looked to make radical changes to the administration of F1.
Its plans include making F1 teams shareholders in the sport, expanding its commercial rights through new media and potentially changing the race structure to make it appeal to a younger fan base.
Liberty confirmed Ecclestone was to be replaced by Chase Carey - the media executive who became F1 chairman last year and that the British veteran had been handed the honorary title of chairman emeritus.
Ecclestone is credited with driving the success of F1 throughout the world, though the sport never managed to properly crack the big US market.
After cutting short his own career as a racing driver following a number of crashes, he went on to own the Brabham team before his big business breakthrough - securing the rights to agree TV deals for F1 and becoming a billionaire in the process.
Mr Carey said on Monday: "F1 has huge potential with multiple untapped opportunities.
"I have enjoyed hearing from the fans, teams, FIA, promoters and sponsors on their ideas and hopes for the sport.
"We will work with all of these partners to enhance the racing experience and add new dimensions to the sport and we
look forward to sharing these plans overtime.
"I would like to recognise and thank Bernie for his leadership over the decades. The sport is what it is today because of him and the talented team of executives he has led, and he will always be part of the F1 family."
Mr Ecclestone was quoted as saying: "I'm proud of the business that I built over the last 40 years and all that I have achieved with Formula 1, and would like to thank all of the promoters, teams, sponsors and television companies that I have worked with.
"I'm very pleased that the business has been acquired by Liberty and that it intends to invest in the future of F1.
"I am sure that Chase will execute his role in a way that will benefit the sport."
