Bernie Ecclestone, an image of business-like urgency, immaculately dressed in a Savile Row navy blue suit and crisp white shirt, highly polished black loafers glistening, hurries in off the crowded street, mobile phone pressed to his ear. He eases himself onto his regularly reserved seat in a corner of the smart, but quiet first-floor restaurant over an exclusive fashion designer's showroom a five-minute chauffeur-driven limousine ride from his London headquarters.
The creature of habit that he is, this says much about the double-billionaire, the most powerful figure in Formula One and an enigma to all but the trusted few in his inner circle. Why, with his connections and mind-boggling riches, would he choose these comparatively anonymous surroundings for his brief respite from the daily 12-hour rigours of running Grand Prix racing rather than the most upmarket exclusive restaurant?
It's his comfort zone, that's the clue. And familiarity of surroundings is crucial to Ecclestone's peace of well-ordered mind. He is such a regular sight nobody bothers him more than to offer non-intrusive greetings. The Knightsbridge, London, diner, with its clientele of movers and shakers, but mostly shoppers, fits easily into the Grand Prix kingpin's strictly observed routine. He is mostly alone with a bowl of pasta for company.
Love of sport
And it is here, without bodyguards or hangers-on, where the real Bernard Charles Ecclestone, in his 81st year, exists — far removed from the frowning and rarely smiling figure, often featured looking so grim on television's grid-walk shots, who bestrides F1 in his supremo role.
For a man whose feet rarely touch the ground, such are the global demands on the time he is only too happy to give selflessly to his sport, he is refreshingly down to earth. An hour spent face-to-face with him over lunch reveals two truths — his deadpan sense of humour, rarely picked up by outsiders, and his unstinting devotion to a duty that has rendered vast riches to many, himself included.
We celebrate his upcoming birthday with a couple of days to go, teetotaller Bernie with a tumbler of water already in place on the table ahead of his arrival. Just a few moments ago, we had met up in his office waiting room where I was treated to a glimpse of his mischievous sense of humour.
A plastic reproduction of a stack of $10 million (Dh36.7 million) towered on a shelf and he caught me looking at it when he entered the room. "Ah," he said," I see you've found where I keep my small change."
Doting father
It would be easy, but far from accurate, to dwell on Ecclestone as an overly doting father of two beautiful daughters as if wealth meant everything to him. He had just spent £100 million (Dh588.55 million) on them both ... £66 million on a house for his younger girl, Petra, 22, and another £45 million on a home for 26-year-old Tamara, two of the most pricey properties in the UK. "I have always steeped them in appreciating the value of money and the hard work you need to put into your being. It is a fact of life, I have the money so why shouldn't I give them the benefit now while they can enjoy it? Sooner or later they would inherit it anyway," he tells me.
And he adds: "I love what I do. I am lucky that I have the choice of whether I do something or not. I don't have to do it for the money. Never have never will. But if I do have to do something I make sure that it is done properly. There's a right and a wrong way. If I have the feeling I can't do something properly I don't do it. That's my mantra for the girls to follow."
So, I ask, when will he quit and switch his attention to relaxing and revelling in his immense fortune, the luxury hotel, The Olden, he bought in Gstaad, Switzerland, the mountainside chalet, his collection of priceless classic cars, his motor-yacht or to roam the world in one of his two private jets, one a 50-seater, based in the aerodrome he half owns?
"That is never going to happen," he says. "I am here — and I am here to stay. Working. Until I die. The day I do not turn up at my office is the day I will be lowered into my grave. And I am sure to a lot of people that will be a major disappointment, that won't be for a long time to come. I feel as fit as a fiddle."
That is despite a quadruple heart by-pass seven years ago when, only at his now-divorced wife Slavica's insistence, he took time off for the procedure he admits saved his life. Ecclestone opens the top of his shirt to display the scar that, he reveals, reminds him it is always worth listening to somebody else when they have good advice to offer.
It is an admission which would surprise those who believe he is immovable but he adds: "It's a crucial lesson I have learned. It is always worth listening when you value the opinion of people you can trust."
His opinions on F1 matters are rarely tested and that is why it is the world's richest sport watched by hundreds of millions worldwide. He is thrilled in a season which has excited him beyond measure.
"It has been an absolute cracker," he grins, "and young Sebastian Vettel, the champion for the second year running, has brought to it level of genius we have not seen since Michael Schumacher was at his best. He has raised the Formula One bar. And he's only 24..."
Abu Dhabi, a fabulous show
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is into its third year and much established as the one of it's kind with daylight-to-dusk racing, but Bernie Ecclestone still gushes about it. "I have made my judgements and lived or perished by them. I have moved our sport into areas some people thought would never work ... Bahrain is one and a fantastic success story that is .... and there is Abu Dhabi, too, another fabulous show.
"I must confess my conditions of contract are pretty strict — but we are running a fantastic sport that demands the best of everything. In both cases, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, they carried out my wishes to the letter. They were both great to deal with and fully understood my requirements. And they got the job done right on time.
It's showbiz
"We are showbiz and I insist that the venues are world-class. And when you work out the massive advantages in tourism and global recognition for whatever region a race is set the returns for the outlay are fabulous value for money."
Ecclestone charges $20 million (Dh73.44 million) to $40 million to license a venue for a Grand Prix and then monopolises the round-the-track advertising.
The Bahrain Grand Prix opener was a sell-out with 42,000 spectators and it generated more than $500 million for the kingdom's coffers.
Promoter Martin Whitaker, an old friend of Ecclestone's and once the F1's media boss, runs the Bahrain event, and he says: "Bernie does everything right. Sport is growing globally and with TV triggering even more interest, it is crucial to ensure the show, and its stage, is spot-on. That is a privilege for anybody connected with F1."
Big list of requests
Ecclestone says: "There's hardly a country that doesn't want a Grand Prix. If you could see the list of requests I have you'd hardly believe it."
It may not be to every team's liking, but Ecclestone backs a 20-race series with India and Korea, the newest additons to the calendar. His admiration is effusive for the support he received on his Abu Dhabi proposals and the efficiency in carrying them out.
Ecclestone reveals: "There was a good deal of scepticism when I mooted the idea of a daylight-into-dark Grand Prix, the first of its kind, but it has turned out to be the most fantastic operation with the most amazing floodlighting anywhere in the world."
The writer is a motorsport expert based in the UK.
