Di Montezemolo: Carmakers Need Ecclestone to Stay

Formula One needs Bernie Ecclestone to stay at the helm once banks and carmakers have agreed a deal over the sport's future, according to Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo.

The carmakers, who have threatened to form a rival championship from 2008 unless they get a far greater share of revenues, announced last week a breakthrough agreement with the banks who control Formula One's commercial rights.

"It is too early for many details. But we need Bernie Ecclestone even more to run the business because the business is owned by the banks," Wednesday's Guardian newspaper quoted Montezemolo as telling reporters at Ferrari's Maranello headquarters.

Former team boss Ecclestone, 73, has transformed Formula One into a sport that generates an estimated annual income of around $400 million from television rights, and approximately $250 million more from other commercial sources.

The SLEC holding company that he founded, and which is now 75 percent owned by bankers JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers and Bayerische Landesbank, has a 100-year deal for the sport's commercial rights.

They and the carmakers have agreed to prepare a memorandum of understanding by the end of the year regarding the sport's future structure and Montezemolo welcomed an agreement that ended the threat of a breakaway.

"We will be completely transparent and we hope that by the end of the year there will be a clear picture, because there are many big issues including television rights, ticket sales, circuit signage and other forms of advertising," he said.

"We want revenues from all three areas and hope that by the end of the year GPWC, Bernie Ecclestone and the banks will make it all official," he added.

The GPWC company was set up by carmakers Ford, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ferrari and Renault to pave the way for a rival series should talks break down.

The carmakers have also been looking for an eventual successor to Ecclestone and Renault's Patrick Faure said this year that a head hunter had been asked to 'find a new Bernie.'

"To avoid any suspicion, this person will not be one of ours, even if Luca di Montezemolo has the ideal profile," he added in an interview in March.