Not even a brutal attack can dampen Bernie Ecclestone’s spirits, as his bruised face has appeared in a one-off advert for watchmaker Hublot.

Ecclestone, who turned 80 earlier this year, was attacked last month outside his offices in Knightsbridge as thieves made off with his personal belongings - including his Hublot watch.

Rather than shy away from publicity, Ecclestone has embraced it. Speaking to TopGear.com, a source at Hublot said Bernie then sent a picture of his bruised face to the CEO of the luxury watch company together with the comment ‘see what people will do for a Hublot’.

Both the comment and the original, untouched picture will form part of the ad, appearing in tomorrow’s Financial Times and International Herald Tribune for one day only (8 December).

Following his attack, Ecclestone was quoted by express.co.uk as saying, “if I had worn my Tag Heuer they probably wouldn’t have bothered.”

“I see a figure of £200,000 mentioned,” he said, “but that is b******s. They won’t be going far on what they took off us.”