New King for Formula 1?

Is this the man that could replace Bernie Ecclestone as the king of Formula 1? He is Justin King and he’s currently the CEO of UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s.

When asked for a comment on rumours that King could replace him Bernie replied: “I’ve no idea whether the boss of a company like Sainsbury’s could do my job. Maybe he could.”

Bernie playing his cards close to his chest, as always.

Last year the 82-year-old F1 boss, who has no appointed successor, attracted criticism from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo who aired his opinion that Bernie is now too old for F1.

Bernie is still in a spot of bother over bribery claims concerning the sale of F1 to equity company CVC back in 2006. Of course, Bernie says its all lies and is not all that concerned by the matter.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” he said. “I’m not worried. I’m aggravated with the nonsense I’m being put through for all this. I sold the bloody shares for the bank. It was something they couldn’t sell. They had six people look at it and wouldn’t buy. I got them out of trouble and now I’m in trouble. Life is like that sometimes.”

Back to King for a moment. If he did enter F1 he already has a great narrative to ensure the terms “melodrama” and “F1 supremo” remain linked. King has recently attracted criticism after revelations that five brands linked to Sainsbury’s magically sponsor his son, Jordan, who is currently driving for Carlin Motorsport in the 2013 European Formula 3 championship.

Among the drivers to have tasted F3 title success with Carlin are Jaime Alguersuari (2008), our own Daniel Ricciardo (2009) and Jean-Eric Vergne (2010).

[Source: The Guardian]