The Goodwood Festival of Speed (FoS) in the UK opened this morning, featuring a jaw-dropping sculpture in celebration of the life and career of Bernie Ecclestone.

The sculpture by Gerry Judah is titled The Five Ages of Ecclestone, symbolising five defining eras of Bernie’s career: as a driver, manager, team owner, impresario and quite simply as a legend of the sport. Each age is portrayed on the central feature by a different car, glinting high up on 5 arms, shooting out of a perfect, white circle.

“Coming up with a sculpture for Goodwood is always a challenge,” said Judah. “They have to be different, dynamic and dangerous, as motorsport itself. This year is no exception given we are celebrating an individual, a phenomenon, and what better way than producing a firecracker.”

Bernie will attend the four-day FoS along with a host of world champions, team owners, engineers, designers and mechanics from his life in motor racing, culminating in a key tributary moment on the balcony of Goodwood House on Sunday July 2.

Festival-goers can look forward to a joyous weekend of motorsport, with highlights based around this year’s ‘Peaks of Performance – Motorsport’s Game-Changers’ theme, paying tribute to the high-watermarks of motorsport.

In addition, Goodwood will honour 70yrs of Ferrari, 110yrs of Brooklands, Tom Kristensen’s 50th birthday and the 20th anniversary of his first Le Mans win alongside welcoming a veritable host of legends of motorsport including current F1 world champion Nico Rosberg.

For the first time, Goodwood opens the doors on FoS Future Lab, an exhibit exploring the travel, transport and technology of the future, featuring autonomous Robocars, VR drone racing, flying cars, never-seen-before Nasa photography and much more.

The four-day event will culminate on Sunday with Goodwood’s first ever drift competition including all the current stars of the drifting world and finally the spectacular Sunday Shootout where the fastest champions of the weekend will compete for the title and the trophy.

Now in its 25^th edition, the Festival of Speed is presented by Mastercard.