Formula One: Qataris and American tycoon Stephen Ross said to be teaming up to take control

Resources-rich Qatar and the owner of American football team the Miami Dolphins are putting together a $7bn-$8bn (£4.5bn-£5.1bn) package to take control of Formula One.

Stephen Ross's RSE Ventures wants to buy 35.5% of the holding company that owns F1 from Europe's largest buyout group CVC Capital Partners, a report in the Financial Times said. The 75-year-old property and sports tycoon is being backed by Qatar Sports Investments, which also owns Paris Saint-German, the French football champions.

The FT report said that Bernie Ecclestone, F1's all-powerful chief executive, sell his 5% holding. "My shares will be sold together with theirs," the 84-year-old said.

RSE is reportedly keen to keep Ecclestone involved, a source told the FT. "They believe he brings a lot to the sport and they can help expand it into the US and Chinese markets," the source said.

CVC, meanwhile, said it had not yet received a bid and declined to comment on the talks, and the FIA, the motorsport regulator, has not yet received an application to approve the transaction.

One person connected to Qatari interests in other sports was reported as saying that F1 was an obvious gap in the country's sporting portfolio, especially after the scandal surrounding the emirate's bid for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

CVC has controlled F1 for nearly 10 years. In 2012 it sold $1.6bn of equity to BlackRock, Norges Bank and Waddell & Reed, none of which could be reached for comment.

Dieter Hahn, chairman of the supervisory board of German sports marketing media group Constantin Medien is also involved with the investment consortium, a source told Reuters.

"The key to unlocking this deal is that under Bernie, F1 doesn't do much TV rights marketing. Hahn will help with that," the source said.

Goldman Sachs is reportedly working with CVC on the deal, while JP Morgan is working with the buyers, said Reuters.

A spokesman for Hahn could not be reached for comment. JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs had no immediate comment.