Bernie Ecclestone wants to be 'dictator' again

Bernie Ecclestone has said that he would like to become Formula 1's "dictator" once again.

Speculation in recent days has suggested the sport's major carmakers including Ferrari may be moving against the F1 supremo, in a bid to see his long reign ended.

Ecclestone, 85, confirmed to Russian sports newspaper Sovetsky Sport that he is not happy with the status quo.

"I have often complained and now I complain again - our structure is wrong," said the Briton. "We have allowed Ferrari and Mercedes to run us. How? They supply engines to most of the teams and [the engines] are very important to those teams.

"When we try to come up with something new, we need cooperation from the participants in the championship. This is what is wrong.

"This is what happens when democracy does not work. We need to go back to the good old days, when we built Formula 1 into what it is today. When I was in a much stronger position. When I was a dictator!"

"But with the current democracy, we have people manipulating the sport in their own interests."

Another problem, he explained, is that Mercedes is totally dominating in the current 'power unit' era, which is affecting F1's popularity.

"I hope that Ferrari will have a strong year," said Ecclestone, "and if they get a good engine Red Bull will also be better. Competition is necessary for everyone, most importantly the fans.

"I can understand that Mercedes doesn't want to change anything, as they have invested a lot of work and money into their engines and don't want to lose that advantage. But there is nothing worse than the dominance of one team.

"Eventually, people begin to suspect that the competition is not on a level playing field.

"People complain to me now that they have lost that feeling of looking forward to the race on Sunday, because everyone knows that Mercedes will win again.

"Believe me, I don't care who wins the next grand prix. If Lewis [Hamilton] wins his fourth title this year - great! I just want him to do it in the last corner of the last race, not with seven races to go in the season."

The season continues with the Russian Grand Prix this Sunday.