F1 teams pick new kingmaker

In the long term the new chairman will have the power to decide who replaces Bernie Ecclestone

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, F1’s current chairman (Getty Images)

Formula One teams will this week be consulted on who will become the new chairman of their sport, as the current incumbent is stepping down to battle a long-running illness.

In the long term the new chairman will lead the committee which decides who replaces Bernie Ecclestone, when he decides to stand down, however, he does not represent a threat to the F1 chief executive. 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.

F1’s current chairman is Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, an Austrian businessman, who has been undergoing treatment for a curable illness, and there is an F1 board meeting this week to decide on his replacement.

One of the candidates is understood to be Paul Walsh, the former head of drinks group Diageo. He is well-acquainted with F1 through two of Diageo’s brands: Smirnoff vodka, which sponsors the Force India team, and McLaren partner Johnnie Walker whisky. Walsh could help to steer the teams through the current financial crisis engulfing F1.