Bernie Ecclestone should step down as Formula One's chief executive, according to former team boss Eddie Jordan.
CVC Capital Partners, the private equity firm which has owned F1 for the last 10 years, is in talks with a US-Qatari bid to sell its 35.5 per cent controlling stake.
The deal, which could be worth up to £5billion, is fronted by Stephen Ross, the 75-year-old US property tycoon who owns the Miami Dolphins.
Ross, the co-founder of American sports and entertainment firm RSE Ventures, is backed by Qatar Sports Investments - the Middle Eastern firm which owns French football club Paris St Germain.
Ecclestone revealed to the Financial Times on Tuesday that talks have already taken place between the two parties and confirmed he would also sell his five per cent stake as part of any deal.
It leaves the 84-year-old's future as the kingpin of Formula One in doubt and Jordan said it was time for "somebody radical" to take over.
"I think he's done a remarkable job, but time has played its role and he should go," Jordan told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"We need to leave it for the next generation in a better state. He has to keep asking himself that and where the time frame is for him to leave. I think it's now."
He added: "The man is a legend. He has taken the sport from absolutely nowhere but, at the end of the day, he's not immortal. He may think he is but he's not.
"There are times you have to say, 'Look, I've done everything that I can do'.
"It does need somebody radical in there who is going to really shake it all about and go back to basics."
Max Mosley, the former FIA president, on Wednesday said he expected Ecclestone to remain as chief executive, even if the sport takes on new ownership.
Source: PA
