The Financial Times reported that F1 CEO Ecclestone's long reign is under threat by former Diageo, an alcoholic drinks company, chief Paul Walsh, who is being lined-up to take over from current chairman Peter Brabeck.
A source close to Walsh told Management Today: "Paul has been courted for nine months now."
THREAT TO ECCLESTONE?
The Times had claimed CVC chief Donald Mackenzie was behind the impending change because he wanted "a more professional approach" to running F1.
The source close to Walsh confirmed: "Paul would want to rein in (Ecclestone) to some extent from a good governance point of view" and would get "short-tempered" if the 84-year-old didn't change his ways "within a few months".
F1 business journalist Christian Sylt, known to be close to Ecclestone, insisted that while Walsh was a candidate, "he does not represent a threat to" the F1 supremo.
Sylt wrote in The Independent: "There is no sign that Ecclestone is slowing down but he turned 84 this year so will eventually have to let go of the wheel and the new chairman will have a say in who replaces him."