Formula One too risky for me to invest in, says Ecclestone

Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone today admitted that F1 was teetering so near the brink of financial disaster he would not personally invest in it.

Ecclestone is concerned that because of the recession, countries that host the races could be unable to pay their F1 royalty fees.

In a statement tantamount to a FTSE 100 boss admitting he would not buy his own company's shares, he told the Evening Standard the problem was so bad that he would not personally buy a stake in F1's $2.4 billion (£1.6 billion) debt for fear of default. "I don't know if I would buy that debt," he said.

Countries pay Ecclestone's business to host the race. Payment is generally made or guaranteed by the host country's biggest banks. However, Ecclestone said: "About a year ago I'd have said that a guarantee with a bank is a guarantee, because nothing is going to go wrong. But think of all the supposedly gilt-edged' banks that have gone under since then."

A host's inability to pay could have an impact on F1's ability to pay its $270 million annual interest on the huge debt run up by the $2.4 billion leveraged buyout of the business by private equity house CVC in 2006.

According to F1's industry monitor, Formula Money, race hosting fees bring in around a third of the sport's $1.1 billion revenues.