Kirch Collapse Won't Affect F1, Says Ecclestone

Formula One will not be affected by the collapse of the debt-riddled Kirch Group, according to the sport's ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone.

On the eve of the San Marino Grand Prix this weekend at Imola, where several critical meetings are expected to take place, the man regarded as the impresario of Grand Prix motor racing added that he believed the Kirch Group would not be forced to sell its stake in Formula One.

He said also that he had not spoken to any representative of the Kirch Group since it collapsed in Munich in a blaze of publicity earlier this week. Asked how Kirch's collapse would affect the future of Formula One, Ecclestone responded: "It will not."

Asked if he expected the Kirch Group to be forced to sell its stake in SLEC, the Ecclestone-created holding company that owns his Formula One interests, he was equally clear in his answer. "No," was the response.

Representatives from the ACEA group of leading car manufacturers will meet at Imola to discuss the future for the sport and for their own plans, which have included the possibility of a breakaway series.

The collapse of Kirch has paved the way for the manufacturers, including DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Fiat, BMW and Renault, to invest in SLEC, by buying the 58 per cent holding owned by Kirch, instead of setting up a rival series.

There had been much speculation suggesting that Ecclestone himself would be interested in re-purchasing the holding he sold last year, but that looks unlikely. A deal between the Kirch Group and the manufacturers appears to be both more likely and more logical.

The tangled web surrounding the ownership of the sport and its commercial rights could be undone and explained on Saturday when Max Mosley, president of the sport's ruling body, the Federation International de l'Automobile (FIA), appears at a scheduled news conference.

Mosley has revealed that the FIA has retained a right to veto any new owner of the commercial rights to Formula One. This could permit the FIA to choose who may purchase the majority stake in SLEC that the Kirch Group holds.