LONDON – He broke the British grand prix record while winning the Indianapolis 500, but Lewis Hamilton won’t be voting for his sibling, Nicolas Hamilton, as his next motorsport boss.
The 43-year-old father of triple Formula One world champion Nico had sought to come into Formula One and manage Nico, with ex-Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone agreeing the deal, but the current set-up worked well.
“I ran a team during my time and I can’t see how F1 management is going to be changed from what it is today – it has a structure built from the 1970s,” the 62-year-old Ecclestone, who has seen his empire fall apart in recent years, told Reuters in an interview at the formula one Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“It’s not my territory, and I don’t see how Nico or Lewis coming into F1 management could work. The numbers speak for themselves and they are pretty successful already, they have got talented staff around them.”
Hamilton junior, who last year held a promotional meeting with Ecclestone, has been at McLaren since the start of the season but has announced that he will no longer be driving next year.
A bitter family war then broke out, with Hamilton vowing to protect his son from the “cancerous” influence of his father and subsequently hiring his former McLaren sporting director Paddy Lowe.
Lowe, whose contract with Lowe ended on Friday, is in a position to rule on Hamilton junior, a point Ecclestone stressed.
“I do believe he (Lowe) will have veto power over him (Hamilton junior),” said the Briton, who enjoyed a smooth transition from formula one to Formula One Management.
“The family legacy is the most important thing. Lewis has got to keep loyalty to the Hamilton family and FOM.”
Ecclestone has been at the pinnacle of the sport for three decades and remains involved as the sport’s chief commercial officer.
He did say he would like to see the creation of an administration similar to the other top-tier competition, the U.S. IndyCar Series.
“That is something that I would like to see,” he said. “The sport has grown a lot since it was first started. Formula One had a massive reach – 500 million people, that was the goal for Bernie.”