F1 2017: Formula 1 officially under new management, Ecclestone's rule finished

The development that many had expected ever since it was announced in October that US-based Liberty Media Group had initiated a takeover of Formula 1. Breaking free from the near autocratic rule of Bernard Charles Ecclestone as F1's commercial boss, American Chase Carey will take over as the chief executive officer of F1.

In a departure from Ecclestone's management style where almost all decision making - as well as F1 revenue - was directed towards him, two other key figures will join Carey as managing directors to form a trio of key F1 personnel who will oversee how the sport is run.

F1 legend Ross Brawn will be the managing director for motorsport while Sean Bratches, credited as one of the most influential leaders of American sports network ESPN, will be the managing director for commercial operations.

F1's official website issued the following press releases regarding the sport's new direction and new hires.

Ross Brawn is one of the most successful and innovative Technical Directors in Formula 1 history. A Formula 1 legend with a 40 year engineering and management career in motor racing, he has won 22 World FIA Championships and the Le Mans 24 Hours. His honours include 11 world titles with Ferrari and seven as part of Williams and Benetton. He went on to win the 2009 F1 World Drivers and Constructors' Championships with his own BrawnGP team, the Honda F1 team he rescued and renamed. Ross sold the team to Mercedes-Benz in 2010 and, over three years, laid the foundation that enabled the team to win the 2014, 2015 and 2016 World Titles.

Sean Bratches is credited as one of ESPN’s most influential leaders, with over 27 years of experience, most recently as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. His career has been defined by innovation and vision, and his contributions helped to fuel tremendous growth in ESPN's brand and revenue. Sean oversaw ESPN’s two primary revenue streams, advertising and sponsor sales and content licensing, as well as the research and analytics, marketing, consumer products and events marketing divisions.

He led a sales and marketing team that provided national advertisers access to ESPN’s premier media and marketing platforms and oversaw all content licensing for the domestic cable and satellite networks of The Walt Disney Company to its linear and emerging multi-channel affiliates. These assets included: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, ESPN SEC Network, The Longhorn Network and ESPN3. He also was responsible for the distribution of related HDTV, broadband, video-on-demand, subscription video-on-demand, interactive television, pay-per-view, Spanish-language, and sports syndication products.

Ecclestone's departure means that F1's technical and sporting regulations will now be overseen by Brawn and FIA president Jean Todt; the two were instrumental figures, along with Rory Byrne and of course, Michael Schumacher in elevating the fortunes of Ferrari and making them the dominant force in F1 from 2000 till 2004.

As for Ecclestone himself, the 86-year-old has been given the role of chairman emeritus, which does not carry with it any capacity to have a say in F1's affairs but merely a means for him to be a 'source of advice' for the sport's new rulers.