Bernie Ecclestone’s wife has opened up on what it’s really like to raise a five-year-old son despite the couple’s 46-year age gap. The former F1 supremo, 95, currently lives in the Swiss village of Gstaad with his wife, 49-year-old Fabiana Flosi.
The couple welcomed their son, Ace, into the world five years ago, despite the British billionaire being 89 at the time. They married in 2012, marking his third marriage. Now, the family divide their time between the Swiss Alps and Fabiana’s native Brazil. Flosi and Ecclestone have raised their son to be trilingual, with Ace speaking Portuguese thanks to his mother, English like his father and Swiss German, due to attending the International Preschool in Gstaad.
Discussing their parenthood with Bild, Fabiana was recently asked how they make it work with a 95-year-old dad and 49-year-old mum, she said: “It’s working very well. Bernie and I are a team and we’re raising Ace as a team. If I’m ever a little impatient, Bernie explains to him in his usual calm and quiet way that he can only watch half an hour of TV after he’s done his homework.”
She added: “It’s not easy for us to explain to Ace that online, tablet, and YouTube are only available on Tuesdays, while his classmates are allowed to do so every day. I think it’s a good idea for him to get his first mobile phone at 12 or 14.”
Ecclestone, once the most powerful figure in motorsport, is known for having built F1 into a multi-billion-pound empire. He chimed in by saying about his fourth child: “Ace has accepted this and doesn’t complain.
“He’s a bright, intelligent, wonderful boy. I already see no limits to what he’ll be capable of.”
Fabiana continued: “He was already skiing at the age of two. Many children that age don’t like this or that food – Ace likes everything. His favourite is sushi.”
The former motorsport tycoon previously opened up on his relationship with Ace. “I hope that he doesn’t look at me as the old man,” he told The Telegraph. “I try to be the way he would want me to be. He’s a bright little boy, so he needs to be treated as such.”
There is a staggering age difference between Ecclestone’s eldest child, Deborah, 70, and Ace, who has only recently just started going to school. Speaking to Bild ahead of his own birthday celebrations on Tuesday, Ecclestone said: “My daughters wanted a big party. I’d rather fly with Fabi and Ace to my ranch in Brazil.” He revealed that Deborah visited him in Gstaad before his birthday.
Ecclestone also offloaded a yacht named after his daughters, Petra and Tamara, last week following claims from his wife Fabiana that the family barely used it. The vessel is said to have been used for just eight days annually, prompting the sale.
A second, smaller yacht belonging to the Formula 1 supremo, currently moored in Ibiza, unlike “Petara”, which remains in Croatia, is also for sale.
