Donald Mackenzie, the publicity-shy co-founder of CVC Capital Partners, the
sport’s majority shareholder, is directing the process, an indication of how
Ecclestone’s wings are increasingly being clipped. It also involves the
appointment of a senior industry figure to tackle sponsorship and marketing,
something F1 needs to devote more time and attention to.

The meeting with Walsh happened just hours after Ecclestone invited a handful
of publications, including The Daily Telegraph, into his inner sanctum in
west London. With its garish black window frontage, anonymous sign and
slightly dated decor, it is like walking into a Roger Moore-era James Bond
movie. Ecclestone still lives in a penthouse “above the shop”.

After 90 minutes of conversation, much of it tied up in riddles as is often
the Ecclestone way, he had attempted both to finesse the nature of his role
and outline his ideas for the sport he has ruled for nearly 40 years. Asked
if Walsh was about to take on a more hands-on role than the current
chairman, Austrian businessman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Ecclestone said:
“Well Donald always believes that I need some help. He’s probably right.

“And it’s a case of what sort of help and for what. If you want a surgeon
don’t get a dentist. Probably we need somebody to help with the marketing.
It depends on what the people who employ him think. If he says I’m prepared
to accept a position if it was offered to me, but this is what I want to do,
then it’s up to the employers.”

Mackenzie has marvelled at the revenues Ecclestone has been able to make for
CVC, but the sport’s CEO seems to be left out of the loop on the future
management of the company he built.

“Donald [Mackenzie] is directing it,” Ecclestone conceded. “Do I have any
input? Probably not.”

Given that he may be working closely with Walsh – closer than he would ideally
like, given his previously stated preference for dictatorship over power
sharing – does he not need input? The retort is firm. “I don’t need to do
anything with anybody. I’ve still got a few dollars in the bank, so I’m not
looking for a job. I’m happy here as long as the board are happy. When I
don’t think I can deliver I’ll retire. I’m not at that stage yet.

“What is going to happen is that if I died now, there are enough people here
to continue running the company because of the way things are set up. Would
they want a frontman, particularly if they want an IPO [initial public
offering]? The City would want to see someone, I suppose. The right person
would come along; maybe this Mr Walsh is the one. If I was controlling the
board, I would probably say this wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a woman as
chief executive.”

When our ‘end-of-season review’ began, Ecclestone joked it was in part to
correct some of the “s—” we reporters write and to “give some honest
answers”.

It was telling, therefore, that on every occasion he was asked if Walsh might
look to curb Ecclestone’s control as part of a gradual transition, he did
not totally knock down the idea but adroitly skirted around the subject.
“Let’s have a look and see,” was his best answer.

F1 has had previous suitors try to diminish Ecclestone’s power, but they have
all failed. However, insiders suggest it is different this time, with CVC
eager to avoid some of the PR disasters the sport has blundered through this
year.

Talk then turned to other subjects, including his fear that Mercedes will walk
away with the championship again for another two years, and his plan to
rectify it by forcing through a change to a new engine – perhaps a
normally-aspirated V10, with as much as 1,000 horsepower – at a meeting of
the all-powerful Strategy Group next week. Put to him both that this would
cost even more money, and alienate big manufacturers such as Mercedes, he
amusingly responded: “We probably shouldn’t ask Mercedes.”

There was then an amusing story about why the Qataris and their endless riches
have been unable to stage a Formula One race in Doha, despite almost every
other sport fawning at their feet.

It comes down to a classic Ecclestone handshake given to the Crown Prince of
Bahrain when they joined the calendar, which gives them a veto over any
other races in the Gulf.

Ecclestone explained: “It was never written down in a contract. Then the
people in Abu Dhabi wanted a race in Abu Dhabi. I said: ‘Ask the people in
Bahrain. If they’re happy, I’m happy.’ And then there was the idea of having
another race in Qatar. And I said: ‘Can you sort it out?’ And they can’t.”

Then, after discussing why Lewis Hamilton was the right champion, why no one
could pay him to live in Monaco, and his hopes for next season, he wished us
a Merry Christmas and we were off. In what form he returns in the new year
remains unclear.