The owners of Formula One, CVC Capital Partners, are to sell a large part of their controlling 35.5% stake in the sport as they face up to life after Bernie Ecclestone. The new investors will “have a view on the value of the sport”, according to an insider.

Decision makers at the City-based private equity firm have decided that Ecclestone, the sport’s chief executive and commercial rights holder, must go even if he wins his court case in Munich, where he is fighting bribery charges.

They are convinced that Ecclestone, who will be 84 in October, will continue to be an embarrassment, with HM Revenue and Customs likely to ask further questions about his complex tax affairs, which formed the basis of a Panorama investigation.

The identity of Ecclestone’s successor is unknown but reports that it could be Red Bull’s Christian Horner, the team principal who is closest to Ecclestone, are wide of the mark. It is felt that he does not have the corporate background that is required for the job.

The fresh investment in F1, together with the departure of Ecclestone, is likely to see a radical change in the way the sport is promoted. Remarkably, for a business with a £1bn turnover, there is no marketing department. With TV audiences falling and the smaller teams struggling for survival – the sale of Caterham was announced on Wednesday – F1 in general is dismayed by Ecclestone’s failure to recognise the importance of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. The Mercedes motorsport chief, Toto Wolff, said this week: “I had quite a long row with Bernie in a meeting. We have lost 30% of TV audience in Italy and we have lost some of the audience in Germany – although interestingly the UK is growing. Sure the [social media] model does not work yet as you cannot monetise it, but it is just a matter of time.”

Ecclestone’s control of Formula One, which has lasted 40 years, has been one of the most remarkable reigns in all sport. He has done more than any other person to position F1 as a major global sport but today he is considered a blockage to future development

The F1 season, which has one of its highlights with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend, has been overshadowed by Ecclestone’s court case in Germany, which is unlikely to reach a verdict until September.

Ecclestone, who denies any wrongdoing, is fighting charges of bribing a former banker Gerhard Gribkowsky with a $44m (£26m) payment in return for smoothing the sale of a stake in Formula One to CVC eight years ago.