Ecclestone, now aged 92, left his r𝓀ole as F1 chief executive in 2017 when US-based Liberty Media took over.

Since then, Netflix’s ‘Drive To Survive’ series has taken the sport to new audiences and, this year, F1 will h꧑old three races in the US including the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

“My opinion is that 18 races is enoug𒁃h,” Ecclestone told the 𒀰about the record-breaking 24 grand prix calendar planned for 2024.

“We did 20 and I often thought that that was a bit too much. Because you have to think of꧟ the teams. 

“Before long, they will have to emplo🌠y double staff. Wit🌌h 22 or 23 races there will be too many divorces. It is a matter of when.

“I can understand the commercial people because they can say they are signing long-time agreements and that apparently make🔴s the company they work for a lot more money. 

“They can say they have 10-year contracts or whatever. So what the𝐆y are doing is 100 per cent right for them at the moment commercially.

“But without any shadow of a doubt I would stick to 18 prestigious races. That’s because we don’t know, hoꦉwever long-term the contracts are on paper.&🌺nbsp;

“We don’t know whether they will suddenly decide that it isn’t working too we꧂ll and stop.

“Singapore were about to ♔stop. They phoned me and asked me what I thought. I said they should see how it all works out but don’t 🍸stop now. I moved it from 18 to 20. 

“ꦰI don’t want to make excuses for myself, but that was at 🧜a time [when] we were moving it out of Europe to the rest of the world.”

Stefano Domenicali is now the CEO of Formula 1. Ecclestone remarked: “Stefano cꦛalled me when he got the job. I told him that when I was running it as chief execut🃏ive that I made the calls. 

“Nobody from [the🔯 former owners of F1] ever complained about that — they let me get on with what I thought was best at the time. 

“I don’t know wha♍t Stefano’s posi🍎tion is. I think he is a little bit more aware of what the people in America think.

“I think you can see that with the races in America that they arဣe doing — which I think is completely💧 mad. 

“The one in Miami — the way they ran that was mad, trying to be American rather than the way I did it, which was trying to be pure Formula Oღne as it was, rather than as it cou🍸ld be.

“Maybe they are completely right; maybe I was wrong trying to keep it more Formula🔯 One. 

“I watch every practice session and every race and I look and I think, ‘My God are we trying to show Formula One oღr are we trying to show other things?’

“Netflix has captured them a little bit and they follow that a bit too much. Netflix is in ༒the entertainment business as long as it suits them. It’s not like our old broadcasters who have been with us forever.”