A "typically teasing comment" from F1 CEO BERNIE ECCLESTONE set alight speculation as to "who might succeed him at the helm of Formula One," according to Kevin Eason of the LONDON TIMES. The answer "may be no farther than the four walls of Ecclestone’s modest headquarters in London’s fashionable Kensington district" in the shape of the woman who "has been at his side throughout most of the running battles that have littered" Ecclestone's career. Ecclestone's Chief Legal Officer SACHA WOODWARD-HILL is "rarely seen and relatively unknown," but she is Ecclestone’s "right-hand woman," and "one of very few people in the F1 organisation who has his complete trust." She "will be Ecclestone’s stalwart adviser when he fights an indictment for bribery in a German court next month." He "denies any wrongdoing." When asked by Germany's Sport Bild newspaper who might succeed him, Ecclestone said: "Why not a woman? I believe that women generally don’t have such big egos and they don’t need to go and play golf to close deals. They simply work harder to get the same recognition as men and, because their ego is less important, they are also less emotional in making decisions.” Although not directly naming Woodward-Hill, "she has a powerful case for promotion." She is probably the only person next to Ecclestone who "understands the way through the sport’s financial labyrinth." She is "also listed as a director for an array of F1-related companies'' (LONDON TIMES, 7/25).
