Formula One's new chief Chase Carey wants to make every race a Super Bowl

Formula One's new ruler Chase Carey has spoken of his desire to turn races into 'Super Bowls', having labelled Bernie Ecclestone's regime as “inefficient and ineffective” and claimed that the sport has fallen short of fulfilling its commercial potential.

Carey, 62, conducted his first duties as the new F1 overlord on Tuesday, just hours after Ecclestone, the man who had governed the sport for four decades, was deposed by American giants Liberty Media after they completed their £6.4billion takeover.

The heavily-moustached American, who will be flanked by ex-Mercedes boss Ross Brawn, wants to rip up Formula One's commercial rulebook as he attempts to usher in a new and exciting era.

“It has been a one-man show,” Carey said. “The decision-making recently has been pretty inefficient and ineffective. Running the business is what Bernie has done for most of his adult life. That change, clearly, has difficulties for him and I understand that.

“We try to handle it in a way with the respect he is due. I value his advice and help as we continue to grow the sport. But we want to put an organisation in place which allows us to grow the sport to its potential by making the events bigger, building media platforms which connect to the sport's fans, and create marketing organisations that tell the stories and make the drivers the heroes.”

Carey, who has recently traded his American home for a move to London, spoke of turning races into 'Super Bowls' with a week-long build-up at each of the events. He said he wanted a further race in his homeland with Las Vegas, Miami, New York and Los Angeles possible candidates. He also said London must be considered as a grand prix venue after vowing to stage more races in major cities.

Carey also acknowledged the importance of traditional circuits such as Silverstone, ending political infighting among the teams, and somehow halting Mercedes' dominance which has seen them win three consecutive driver and team titles. Liberty Media have also asked the teams to buy equity in the sport with talks ongoing.

“In the three months that I have been here, I have heard that the races are too predictable, that the rules are too complicated and that engineers have overtaken the drivers,” Carey added.

“I find, particularly with the teams and promoters, there has not been a long-term vision, but the deal of the day and divide and conquer. It is still a great sport, but it can be much greater. We need to find the solutions, find the answers and make it better than it is.”

PA