MAY 13, 2014

No one ready to succeed Ecclestone says Mateschitz

Dietrich Mateschitz claims formula one is staring into the abyss.

Dietrich Mateschitz claims formula one is staring into the abyss.

On Tuesday, F1's long-time chief executive and 'supremo' Bernie Ecclestone will be back in a Munich courtroom, battling for his future and freedom over the Gerhard Gribkowsky bribery affair.

Mateschitz, the billionaire founder of Red Bull, said he is worried about F1's future in the event the sport needs to plan ahead without the diminutive Briton.

"It is very difficult to find someone who can carry on with formula one (after Ecclestone) on both the sporting and financial side," he told the Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten.

"At the moment I know of no one," Mateschitz admitted.

(GMM)