Paul Walsh was not offered F1 role, says Bernie Ecclestone

Former Diageo boss Paul Walsh has not joined the Formula One Group as a non-executive director despite the appointment being announced last year, Bernie Ecclestone said on Sunday.

"He wasn`t offered a position. It was in discussion but...that`s it," Ecclestone, the 84-year-old Briton who runs the commercial side of the sport for controlling shareholder CVC, told Reuters at the Canadian Grand Prix.

"I don`t know whether he was going to get offered a position or not but at the time he couldn`t say `yes, I`m going to be whatever`."

Walsh was touted in the media last year as a potential future chairman of Formula One -- whose current incumbent Peter Brabeck-Letmathe is unwell -- with others speculating he could ultimately take over from Ecclestone.

Private equity group CVC had announced in a statement on December 18 that Walsh would become a non-executive director effective from January 1.

Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo was another appointment while Ecclestone was reappointed to the board after a period off it during a bribery trial in Germany that was resolved with a $100 million payment.

Walsh was chief executive of drinks company Diageo from 2000 to 2013 and is chairman of Compass Group. 

Comments in Management Today last December, attributed to a source close to Walsh, indicated he "would want to rein in (Ecclestone) to some extent from a good governance point of view" if appointed.

Ecclestone responded then by telling reporters: "He would be unique if he could do that. First he’s got to be appointed, hasn’t he?"