Liberty Media, F1's owner since 2016, looked into also buying the premier American open wheeler series.

Last week, American racing legend and billionaire Roger Penske shocked the racing world by announcing he has bought Indycar as well as the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But Germany's Auto Motor und Sport claims that Liberty was also a potential buyer. The company reportedly lost interest because it did not want to enter a bidding war with Penske.

The report was confirmed by the Associated Press, who said two people "with knowledge of the sale" agreed that Liberty was interested in Indycar.

"One person familiar with Liberty's talks said the company balked at an initial asking price of $250 million", the report claimed.

Liberty Media's international arm, Liberty Global, owns the all-electric series Formula E.