LONDON • Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been asked to stay on for three years after an imminent takeover of the sport is completed by US cable TV mogul John Malone's Liberty Media.

"They want me to be here for three years," said the Briton, who built the sport into a business with an annual turnover of about US$1.9 billion (S$2.56 billion).

Media reports had suggested the first part of a broader deal between outgoing rights holders CVC and Liberty Media could be announced yesterday. But Ecclestone and CVC chairman Donald Mackenzie voiced some scepticism about the time frame at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix. A Formula One board meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday, by which time the deal should have been finalised and a new chairman introduced.

Ecclestone said he would not be attending next week's Singapore Grand Prix, the social highlight of the sport's Asian calendar, because of the negotiations. "Because all this is going through, they (CVC) want me to be there (in London) to help them with all sorts of things," said the Briton.

REUTERS