Bernie Ecclestone

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Ecclestone's motorsport career began after World War II trading motorcycle parts with Fred Compton. He started racing in 500cc Formula 3 in 1949, winning multiple races at Brands Hatch driving a Cooper Mk V acquired in 1951. After accidents ended his driving ambitions, he returned as a manager for Stuart Lewis-Evans and later Jochen Rindt, who won the World Drivers' Championship posthumously in 1970. In 1972, Ecclestone purchased the Brabham team from Ron Tauranac for £100,000 (approximately $120,000). He operated it for 15 years, securing 22 victories and two World Drivers' Championship titles with Nelson Piquet in 1981 and 1983. The team utilized Ford engines initially, then switched to Alfa Romeo flat-12s before returning to Cosworth and finally adopting BMW turbocharged four-cylinder engines for the 1982 season.

In Their Own Story

In 1958, Ecclestone purchased two Connaught chassis to enter Formula One as a privateer. At the Monaco Grand Prix, drivers Bruce Kessler and Paul Emery failed to qualify, finishing five seconds too slow; Ecclestone drove the #12 car himself to verify their complaints but posted a time nearly a minute slower, a run described as "not a serious attempt." Later that year at the British Grand Prix, Jack Fairman raced his entry. Tragedy struck when Lewis-Evans died from burns sustained in an engine explosion at the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix. Ecclestone then managed Rindt, whose Lotus team saw him die in a crash at Monza while leading to the 1970 title. By 1974, Ecclestone co-founded the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) with Frank Williams and others. He later became chief executive of FOCA in 1978, negotiating a deal where his company, FOPA, received 23% of television revenues while putting up prize money, fundamentally shifting control from the FIA to the teams.

Reader's Guide

Ecclestone's influence peaked with the signing of the fourth Concorde Agreement in 1997, which cemented his companies' control over administration and logistics. His commercial empire expanded beyond Formula One when he founded International Sportsworld Communicators in 1996, controlling World Rally Championship rights until 2000. He also co-owned Queens Park Rangers with Flavio Briatore from 2007 to 2011, overseeing their promotion to the Premier League. Despite his wealth—placing fifth on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2002—he declined both a CBE and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. His direct control ended when he sold the Formula One Group to Liberty Media in 2017; he served as chairman emeritus until departing in 2020.

Did You Know?

• Ecclestone was convicted of tax fraud in October 2023 at Southwark Crown Court, agreeing to pay over £650 million in back taxes and penalties.
• He became one of the oldest known fathers in 2020 when his son was born at age 89.
• Ecclestone drove a Connaught chassis in 1958 with a lap time nearly a minute slower than his own drivers, described as "not a serious attempt."
• He purchased the Brabham team from Ron Tauranac for £100,000 and sold it to Joachim Luhti for over US$5 million in 1988.
• Nelson Piquet won two World Drivers' Championship titles with Ecclestone's Brabham team in 1981 and 1983.