The owner of the Miami Dolphins American football team is teaming up with Qatar to take control of Formula One, in a €6 billion to €7 billion deal that could see the sport finally break into the United States market.

RSE Ventures, a company founded by 75-year-old property and sports tycoon Stephen Ross, wants to buy 35.5 per cent of the holding company that owns F1 from Europe's largest buyout group, CVC Capital Partners.

It is being backed by Qatar Sports Investments, which also owns Paris St Germain, the French soccer club.

Any deal would involve Bernie Ecclestone, F1's chief executive, also selling his holding of roughly 5 per cent. "My shares will be sold together with theirs," he said.

Qatar is believed to ultimately want to buy all of F1.

Even if Mr Ecclestone sells his shareholding, a person close to the talks said RSE was keen to keep the 84-year-old involved and had discussed the idea with him.

“They believe he brings a lot to the sport and they can help expand it into the US and Chinese markets,” the person said.

RSE is believed to be a few weeks away from a formal bid and in the due-diligence stage. CVC said it had not yet received a bid and declined to comment on the talks.

Mr Ecclestone said he was not yet aware of a “deal on the table”.

The FIA, the motorsport regulator, has not yet received an application to approve the transaction.

One person connected to Qatari interests in other sports said that F1 was an obvious gap in the country’s sporting portfolio.

Another person said that Qatar had accelerated its interest in F1 after being stung by the scandal at Fifa over the 2022 World Cup. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited