Ecclestone: Liberty bosses don't want me at F1 races

Former Formula 1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone says the bosses of the sport's owner, Liberty Media, do not want him to attend races anymore, reasoning his reduced attendance through the 2017 season.

Ecclestone's 40-year reign at the helm of F1 came to an end in January when Liberty completed its takeover of the sport and installed a new management team, with American executive Chase Carey being appointed CEO and chairman to work alongside commercial boss Sean Bratches and technical head Ross Brawn.

Ecclestone was moved into the honorary role of 'chairman emeritus', and has appeared at just a handful of F1 races this season, with the 86-year-old claiming Liberty does not want him to be in the paddock.

"Chase sent a message to one of the girls in the office to tell me that they haven’t got so many offices at the circuits, only what the race promoter gives them," Ecclestone told the Daily Mail.

"There are three of them, so the three offices are being used. So basically they don’t want me to come to races.

"It would have been just as easy to have said that to me. Anyway, I have obliged them."

Liberty is currently in the process of plotting its plans for the future of F1, but Ecclestone feels there has been a lack of action thus far, making the job of running the sport tougher than Carey first believed it would be.

"They haven’t done anything yet as far as I can see," Ecclestone said.

"They said they wouldn’t talk, they would act. They said I talked before doing anything. I didn’t. I got things done quietly.

"All they do is talk. They said they wanted six races in America, for example. If I say I am going to whack someone next time I see them, I’d better bloody well do it.

"Chase had preconceived ideas of what needed to be done. But now he’s on board, it isn’t quite as easy as he thought.

"So I feel sorry for him."