My son works in Formula 1 and despite the recession it remains one of the most profitable businesses in the world. It is controled by Bernie Ecclestone, a tiny little man with grey hair and a very tall ex-wife.
Allegations of bribery are being aired in a German court today. The allegations come as Mr Ecclestone takes the stand in Germany to give evidence in the criminal trial against Dr Gribkowsky. The case is running in parallel with civil action being taken in the UK. The documents allege Mr Ecclestone paid a bribe to ensure he retained control of F1 after its 2006 sale to CVC Partners. Mr Ecclestone has previously claimed it was to stop false allegations of his tax affairs being reported to HM Revenue & Customs. It is alleged that it was Mr Ecclestone who initiated the payment of bribes, offering to open an account in Singapore containing $80m to influence the sale of F1. The document suggests Gerhard Gribkowsky, the German investment banker on trial in Germany, turned down the $80m preferring to set up a series of consultancy agreements to receive the funds.
Here is what it is suggested. First a $66m payment was made by German bank Bayern Landesbank to Mr Ecclestone and his family trust. The two entities then paid Dr Gribkowsky, the Bayern investment banker who ran the sale, $44m as the alleged bribe. According to legal papers, the alleged bribes resulted in Bayern's 47pc in F1 being sold to CVC for $814m rather than the $2.8bn it was really worth. The material undervaluation is alleged to have lost previous owners of F1 Constantin Medien roughly $171m in a profit share agreement.
Mr Ecclestone has claimed he was strong-armed into making the payments under pressure from Dr Gribkowsky. Court documents dispute that view. "Mr Ecclestone's allegation that the payments related to threats…rather than to the disposal of the BayernLB holding is untrue." Instead the case brought by German media group Constantin Medien alleges Mr Ecclestone was attempting to retain control of the sport. "It is to be inferred Mr Ecclestone's motivation for promoting the acquisition by CVC was to safeguard his practical control of the Formula 1 companies."
England is the home of the best automotive engineering in the world, supplying men and material for most forms of autosport. It is sad to think that such engineering excellence is being corrupted by businessmen who do not know right from wrong.
And to think that Tony Blair was content with only £1 million from Bernie Ecclestone for keeping cigarette advertising on British Television. How many lives did that cost?
9 comments:
'Everybody cheats in racing - Flavio was unfortunate to get caught' said Bernie (off the cuff) about the then Renault boss instructing Nelson Piquet Junior to intentionally crash his car to allow Alonso a re-start and subsequent win - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Formula_One_crash_controversy
And: At a subsequent hearing of the FIA, the sport's governing body, the 59-year-old Italian was handed an indefinite ban from all FIA-sanctioned events, while Symonds was given a five-year suspension.
Renault were hit with a two-year suspended ban.
Now, with the dust beginning to settle on the scandal, Ecclestone has urged Briatore to appeal to the FIA but steer clear of any legal action.
"He should ask to be heard by the court of appeal. He should appeal to the FIA," said Ecclestone
"If he goes to a civil court... the FIA would have to defend and somebody will say that he sent a young guy out to what could have been to his death. It wouldn't go down too well, I wouldn't think."
Ecclestone and Briatore are friends as well as business partners, having bought Championship football side Queens Park Rangers, along with steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, in 2007.
And Ecclestone admitted his part in Briatore's ban had affected their friendship.
"He's not talking to me. He thinks I should have defended him, which I couldn't," said the billionaire.
"Honestly, I am a friend of Flavio's. He has just handled the whole thing badly. He could have handled it in a completely different way... and that would have been the end of it." Verdict: Bernie is a two-faced Faust...
Unfortunately, Doc, Bernie was being truthful about all cheating - the ol' days of gentlemanly conduct and fairness went out o'the window decades ago...Michael Schumacher, multiple world-champ in F1, is a prime example - dangerously and totally unreasonable behaviour on the track, practically bordering, if not labelled as, outright cheating. Ayrton Senna too was not called 'madman' for nothing...if one saw him in the mirrors, one moved over to stay alive! Alain Prost was called 'the Prof' for his logical and safe driving - puttin it on the line w/o putting anybody's life on the line. Of course, tis hard to execute on road or track...
Yes, Damian Hill and Jensen Button are another two safe drivers.
Damon and Jenson have been a lot luckier than Lewis Hamilton...a truly talented driver who has been quite unlucky, right from his debut year in F1...Mclaren (my fav team, remember Bruce McLaren) groomed Lewis from a young age ...he does race more 'on the limit' (and pulls it off)than the more cautious Damon and Jenson do or did...
My son knows him quite well. He's not a very nice man.
yes, doc, he is a bit juvenile...quite...but his personality is not what i am talking about :)
Raw talent is like the geniuses in Mensa, doc, what? The best of 1 to 2% of the population? They are ALL good!
There, but for the Grace of God go i - my favourite quote of all time. Truly humbling...Hamilton may have been lucky to have talent, but not lucky enough to have the insight or wisdom...
And i still believe that people born before the hectic '70s, '80s & '90s were lucky to get the benefit of 'letting it all sink in...' in a slower time - where do the young people do that nowadays?! Exceptions still happen though!
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