F1 CONFIDENTIAL: The power struggle that could pit Christian Horner against Toto Wolff in a battle to control the sport, the dilemma facing Michael Schumacher’s family and the new track in pole position to be added to the calendar

There is uncertainty about the future of Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, Mail Sport can reveal.

The affable Italian, 59, was due to sign a new contract with Liberty Media, the sport’s American owners, this summer, but has not yet done so.

Domenicali, former Ferrari team boss, still has one year left on his current contract. His supporters say there is no rush to re-sign and a resolution may yet be reached, indicating negotiations are ongoing and his fate is in his own hands.

But Domenicali’s future has been thrown into sharp relief by Liberty Media’s CEO Greg Maffei’s annual tour to London this week, during which he has spoken to F1’s other power brokers, as well as Domenicali.

The visit of Maffei, a 64-year-old golf-mad businessman with a Harvard degree, has set tongues wagging among Formula 1’s top talents, with private speculation surfacing about Domenicali’s future in his estimated position of £6 million per year.

Liberty Media chief executive Greg Maffei, left, has become increasingly visible at races in recent months, amid suggestions he wants a change of leadership in Formula 1

Red Bull’s Christian Horner, left, and Mercedes’ Toto Wolff, right, could be among the sport’s big beasts moving up to the position if Domenicali eventually leaves his role

Maffei runs the American conglomerate owned by the reclusive John Malone and is the most powerful man in the sport’s ownership structure. He has also been increasingly visible at races in recent months.

I’ve heard it suggested he wants a change in leadership, an idea given credence by the departure last month of F1’s Chief Legal Officer Sacha Woodward Hill, 55, after 30 years in the organisation. She was brought in by Formula 1’s modern creator Bernie Ecclestone, who sold his company to Liberty for £5 billion in 2017.

Woodward Hill handed Ecclestone his resignation papers at his own office in Knightsbridge. He didn’t blame her, because he knew his old and highly respected lawyer was only doing the bidding of her new bosses. They have maintained warm relations. He called her on her next birthday and they keep in touch.

A source close to the crime scene told me on Thursday evening: ‘The Americans may be doing a clean-up operation. I think Greg wants to run the whole place.”

Domenicali moved his family to England and changed schools when he took over his role from Ecclestone’s immediate successor, Chase Carey, in 2021 and has established himself as an amicable figurehead.

His departure, if it were to happen, could spark a stampede for his job among the sport’s biggest beasts, such as Red Bull’s Christian Horner, Mercedes’ Toto Wolff or McLaren’s Zak Brown.

The dilemma facing Michael Schumacher’s family

It’s a tragic case, and who can advise the loving wife of a legend stricken with a crippling disease?

It’s now 11 years since Michael Schumacher was changed forever in a skiing accident in Mirebel on a clear Sunday morning in the Alps.

From that day until now, he has not been seen in public. Although it is convincingly said that he attended his daughter Gina’s wedding at the family’s £27million villa in Mallorca last month.

Phones were not allowed into the Villa Yasmin, the property he and his wife Corinna bought seven years ago from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. You understand why the instruction was drawn up, photos of the seven-time world champion are prohibited. Privacy and decency must prevail.

It’s their business, not ours. A private man by nature, he endured the trappings of his fame only by steeling himself to accept that involvement with the media, and therefore with his fans, was an inevitable price he had to pay.

But despite all that, he is also a public figure, said to be the world’s first sports billionaire, and while he is acutely sensitive to the devastating consequences of his accident, I don’t think it is unreasonable to also think that a sensible medical bulletin would appear wrong. It could also be the best PR strategy.

Schumacher has not been seen in public since a skiing accident in 2013 (Schumacher pictured with his wife Corinna in 2005)

A sensible medical bulletin on the F1 legend’s health could be the best PR strategy

Ainslie’s Americas Cup base is reminiscent of F1

I spoke to Sir Ben Ainslie, our greatest sailor, this week in Barcelona, ​​where he hopes to end Britain’s 173-year wait to win the America’s Cup, the sport’s oldest international competition .

The facilities at his base were phenomenal and reminiscent of Formula 1. Mercedes designers were working away in their offices. Downstairs was a simulator in which his team spent an hour or more each day acclimatizing to the forecast climatic conditions. The headsets they wear bring their view directly to the sea, in a virtual sense.

Others crunch numbers in offices. If you think sailing is just a party at sea, think again. This is top sport.

Sir Ben Ainslie hopes to end Britain’s 173-year wait to win the America’s Cup

The facilities at Ainslie’s base are similar to those of F1 as his team attempts to simulate conditions on the water

The Ainslie incident is reminiscent of Ecclestone’s theatre

On the Ainslie theme, he was held down with a knife and had his Rolex stolen from him.

Ben is doing well these days – good for his mind and soul, but also for his fitness, he is 47 years old – but he couldn’t catch the criminal who escaped his watch. He gave chase for a mile, but to no avail. “Maybe a good job,” he said.

He allegedly beat the man, a member of a gang, to a pulp.

I reminded him of Bernie Ecclestone profiting from his robberies on the steps of his house fourteen years ago. The motive actually had nothing to do with taking his watch, but at the time F1 had a sponsorship with Hublot, the high-end Swiss watchmakers.

Ecclestone suggested that Hublot take out an advert, which they did, capturing his black eyes and bruised face with the caption: ‘Look what people are willing to do for a Hublot.’

It was pure Bernie. Rolex ambassador Ainslie liked that. “All marketing is good,” he laughed. The PC audience wouldn’t understand that one.

Briatore is Renault’s best hope for a return to glory

Whatever you say about Flavio Briatore and his colorful past, he is a star producer of F1 success. Ecclestone tried to get him to run Ferrari instead of the current incumbent president, the smiling Frenchman Fred Vasseur. Chalk and cheese.

At 74, Flavio Briatore is still Renault’s best hope for a return to glory

It takes a big personality to drive Ferrari, with all its political machinations behind the scenes. Briatore was ready for that; Vasseur, let’s see.

Briatore has effectively been appointed to lead Renault this season and their decision to ax their engine program and improve their game. Mercedes is expected to get the engine gig.

Briatore, 74, remains Renault’s best hope of returning to glory. That last happened through Fernando Alonso in 2006, when Briatore was in charge.

Main race South Korea is added to the calendar

The next addition to the Formula 1 calendar?

It could be that South Korea returns to the calendar, but in Seoul or Incheon, not in Daegu

South Korea is my favorite. There are a few locations in mind. The capital Seoul, or Incheon, with three million inhabitants, is leading the way.

Fortunately, a return to the ‘resort’ Daegu is not being considered. Sure, they did a great job, but the ‘love hotels’ – rented by the hour while you were on the job – took some getting used to.