London: It could well go down as ‘The Sale of the Century.’ As major shareholders CVC Capital Partners, guided to greatness and fortune by mastermind Bernie Ecclestone, himself a sterling treble-billionaire, relinquish their control to the American Liberty Media Group, the sport is heading for a makeover like never before.

Their chairman, Chase Carey, has not dipped into the firm’s funds to the tune of £8b for the fun of it or the benefit of Formula One, more likely that like any other massive financially secure institution, he and they are in it to harvest even more riches.

Liberty will take a 35 per cent shareholding after their initial deposit of 18.7 per cent. CVC, who have controlled F1 since 2005 will remain on board, but with a reduced holding of 24.7 per cent making them F1 second biggest shareholder. Ecclestone has around 10 per cent.

Carey, now the head of F1, too, revels in the empire of brands, franchises, backers and sponsors who jostle to elbow one another aside to edge their way into this field of riches and even deeper possibilities.

He said he sees F1 as a low-risk investment because of the guaranteed income flows from television deals and race contracts and promised: ”We will take F1 to the next level.

“We were especially attracted to the sport by the diverse revenue drivers and low risk business models. There are essentially three core revenue opportunities in the business — race promotion, broadcasting and advertising — each of them with significant growth potential as we take F1 forward.

“F1 is a key player in the high growth market for live premium sports rights. There is an increasing demand from broadcasters, sponsors and advertisers who want access to the sport’s massive global live audiences.”

But arm-in-arm with the intensity and promise of immeasurable returns, Carey, wise and shrewd wheeler-dealer that he is, is also anxious to spread the Formula One word to even wider zones and popularise it in otherwise untended markets — as well as strengthening the US presence to maybe two GPs.

There is, hardly a soul along the paddock, humble or hierarchical, who is not excited at the prospects proposed and promised by Liberty as the newly inspired custodians. Even Ecclestone, for so long the sole prime mover of all things financial and commercial in F1, admits: “This is going to be an exciting time. That is for sure.”

Carey has assured the indomitable 86-year-old Ecclestone that his position is safe for at least another three years even if he is joined at his exclusive Knightsbridge, London head office by a financial expert, a scheme not opposed by the kingpin who has ruled Grand Prix racing for 40 years.

It will be a severely testing time for fresh owners Liberty, venturing into strange territory with hundreds of millions of race fans around the globe eagle-eyed for every move of the new wave.

They are currently working frantically behind the scenes, talking daily to Ecclestone and other mega names to make the takeover as smooth an operation as possible and outline and then put into place their plans for the ongoing, and hopefully further advancing, popularity of the sport.

Carey adds: “The established markets, the home and foundation of Formula One, is Europe. And building on that extremely solid foundation is crucial. It has to be second to none in our development programme.”

The teams, it is promised, will have a bigger say and play a vital role in the upcoming developments and some, poised to taking advantage of Liberty’s offer, have revealed an interest in investing really serious money. Liberty have already begun to examine the possibility of increasing the number of GPs to 25 and are closely examining the likelihood of inviting new venues to join in place of some established circuits that are feeling the financial pinch or have suffered spectator drop-offs to a scary level.

One of the voices to comment on the scene shift is Bob Fernley, the experienced deputy boss at Force India, who said: “In Formula One, we have a unique and valuable product. A sport and a business valuable to watchers and backers alike.

“It was created by the genius and tireless effort of Bernie Ecclestone, and along with other influential names in the past, like McLaren’s former overlord Ron Dennis and Sir Frank Williams, who have contributed to its success.

“If you overlay all that background with the expertise of Liberty Media and Chase Carey in sports marketing at the highest level, you are facing a pretty exciting spell.”

- The writer is a motor sports expert