Bernie Ecclestone’s departure from the head of Formula One brings to an end his four-decade rule over the sport. 

The leadership changes came as John Malone’s Liberty Media announced it had completed the acquisition of the worldwide racing series. “This is official, I do not run the company any more”. 

American Chase Carey, the 21st Century Fox vice chairman, was installed as the new Formula One chairman when Liberty agreed to take control from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners last September. 

Announcement of the plan follows meetings of the Strategy Group and World Motor Sport Council earlier this week, where Liberty presented some of its future plans for F1 once it finalizes its takeover. 

A change at the top of the sport was expected to be announced on Tuesday (24 January) by Liberty and speculation has been mounting that Ecclestone could be leaving the sport or taking up a new role. 

“F1 has huge potential with multiple untapped opportunities”, Carey said in a release. Bernie Ecclestone has been at the top of F1 for 39 years. “I have enjoyed hearing from the fans, teams, (the sport’s governing) FIA, promoters and sponsors on their ideas and hopes for the sport”. 

“We look forward to working with the teams to increase the appeal of this iconic sport and enhance the F1 business”.

The sport is what it is today because of him and the talented team of executives he has led, and he will always be part of the F1 family. 

A former team owner in the 1970s, he grew his influence by winning the right to negotiate television contracts for the races. 

Replacing Ecclestone are Carey and managing directors Ross Brawn (sport) and Sean Bratches (commercial). 

Ecclestone, 86, ran F1 for nearly 40 years. During his time with the network, Bratches was responsible for advertising on all platforms and content licensing. 

Bernie Ecclestone has been removed from his position as CEO after almost 40 years in charge of Formula One. It’s unknown how the series will change under new management.