LONDON - Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone said on Wednesday he had recommended Singapore as the best place to float the motor racing business, seeking to tap Asian enthusiasm for international sporting brands.

Ecclestone, 81, stressed that he made the proposal, but a decision on any flotation was up to CVC Capital Partners, the private equity company that has owned a majority of the business since 2006.

English soccer champions Manchester United also had plans for a US$1 billion (S$1.26 billion) flotation in the southeast Asian city state last year but put them on ice because of market volatility.

The diminutive Ecclestone, a former driver and team boss, has built Formula One (F1) - and with it his estimated US$4.2 billion fortune - from a circuit for motoring enthusiasts into a global enterprise that draws more than half a billion TV viewers for its races.

It is banking on further geographical spread to keep its revenues growing, with a return to the United States later this year for a Grand Prix in Texas, after last year's inaugural race in India, and Russia joins the calendar in 2014. It will also race in Bahrain this year, despite continuing unrest, after last year's contest was shelved following a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

A flotation for F1 has long been mooted, but the issue is made more urgent by the expiry this year of a confidential commercial agreement between the rights holding company and the teams whose cars compete in the 20-race series.

Ecclestone said the flotation plan was not linked to the agreement with the teams and denied reports that Italy's Ferrari, the sport's best known team, and current champions Red Bull could be offered a stake in the business.

CVC, which owns 63.4 per cent of F1, would continue to be a long-term holder of the business, and the initial public offering (IPO) option being explored is for only part of the company, a source close to the matter said.

Britain's Sky News has reported that CVC has asked Goldman Sachs to examine a placement of some F1 shares with a new investor as a precursor to a formal Singapore IPO.

The Sky report put a potential valuation of over US$10 billion on the business. Goldman Sachs and CVC declined to comment.

A minimum 15 per cent float in Singapore would make the deal worth US$1.5 billion.