Mallya fires parting shot at deposed Ecclestone

Vijay Mallya has fired a parting shot at the recently deposed F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

The Indian businessman’s Force India team finished an admirable fourth overall last year, despite having one of the smallest budgets in pitlane.

But when the 2017 car was unveiled, it was clear that success had not translated into an influx of new on-car sponsorship.

Asked why, Vijay told Auto Motor und Sport: "If the boss of formula one says publicly that the sport is crap, what do you expect?"

In 2015, Ecclestone notoriously claimed that "Formula one is crap". At the age of 86, he was replaced as chief executive by new F1 owner Liberty Media recently.

Mallya continued: "Which sponsor wants to enter a business than speaks like that about itself? Bernie put off many sponsors with his comments, and those who did come went to the rights holders.

"FOM and the teams were competing for sponsors," he continued. "Liberty Media seems to have a different approach, so let’s see what changes."