Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h32:17.434
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 16.983
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 27.638
4. Alonso Ferrari + 35.048
5. Massa Ferrari + 1:06.733
6. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
7. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap
8. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
10. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
13. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
15. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap
16. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
17. Senna Renault + 2 laps
18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
19. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps
20. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps
Fastest lap: Webber, 1:15.324
Not classified:
Driver Team On lap
Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 62
Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 37
Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 27
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 22
World Championship standings, round 19:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 392 1. Red Bull-Renault 650
2. Button 270 2. McLaren-Mercedes 497
3. Webber 258 3. Ferrari 375
4. Alonso 257 4. Mercedes 165
5. Hamilton 227 5. Renault 73
6. Massa 118 6. Force India-Mercedes 69
7. Rosberg 89 7. Sauber-Ferrari 44
8. Schumacher 76 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41
9. Sutil 42 9. Williams-Cosworth 5
10. Petrov 37
11. Heidfeld 34
12. Kobayashi 30
13. Di Resta 27
14. Alguersuari 26
15. Buemi 15
16. Perez 14
17. Barrichello 4
18. Senna 2
19. Maldonado 1
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m11.918s 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m12.099s + 0.181 3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m12.283s + 0.365 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m12.480s + 0.562 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m12.591s + 0.673 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m13.050s + 1.132 7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m13.068s + 1.150 8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m13.298s + 1.380 9. Bruno Senna Renault 1m13.761s + 1.843 10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes Q2 cut-off time: 1m13.571s Gap ** 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m13.584s + 1.138 12. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m13.801s + 1.355 13. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m13.804s + 1.358 14. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m13.919s + 1.473 15. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m14.053s + 1.607 16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.129s + 1.683 17. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.182s + 1.736 Q1 cut-off time: 1m14.571s Gap * 18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m14.625s + 1.344 19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m15.068s + 1.787 20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m15.358s + 2.077 21. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m16.631s + 3.350 22. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m16.890s + 3.609 23. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m17.019s + 3.738 24. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m17.060s + 3.779 107% time: 1m18.410s
* Gap to quickest in Q1
** Gap to quickest in Q2
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h37:11.886
2. Alonso Ferrari + 8.457
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 25.881
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 35.784
5. Massa Ferrari + 50.578
6. Rosberg Mercedes + 52.317
7. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:15.900
8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:17.100
9. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:40.000
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
13. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
14. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Senna Renault + 1 lap
17. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Webber, 1:42.612
Not classified:
Driver Team On lap
Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 49
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19
D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 18
Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1
World Championship standings, round 18:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 374 1. Red Bull-Renault 607
2. Button 255 2. McLaren-Mercedes 482
3. Alonso 245 3. Ferrari 353
4. Webber 233 4. Mercedes 159
5. Hamilton 227 5. Renault 72
6. Massa 108 6. Force India-Mercedes 57
7. Rosberg 83 7. Sauber-Ferrari 42
8. Schumacher 76 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41
9. Petrov 36 9. Williams-Cosworth 5
10. Sutil 34
11. Heidfeld 34
12. Kobayashi 28
13. Alguersuari 26
14. Di Resta 23
15. Buemi 15
16. Perez 14
17. Barrichello 4
18. Senna 2
19. Maldonado 1
Formula One boss Bernard Ecclestone ushered team managers into his trailer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Nearby, mechanics tended to an array of million-dollar racing cars.
It was 10 a.m. on a June day in 2005 as fans filed into their seats for the U.S. Grand Prix. Two days earlier, a Michelin & Cie.-made tire on Toyota team driver Ralf Schumacher’s car had burst on turn 13 and the auto smashed into a wall at 175 miles per hour, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its December issue.
The tiremaker said it couldn’t rule out more accidents.
As the managers gathered around, Ecclestone called Max Mosley, president of Formula One’s ruling body, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), at home in Monaco in a last-minute attempt to persuade him to alter the racetrack layout so the grand prix could proceed smoothly.
Mosley was unmoved, according to Paul Stoddart, then owner of the now-defunct Minardi team, who was in the trailer. He wouldn’t change the rules.
With the 1 p.m. start nearing, the crowd swelling toward 120,000 and a public relations disaster looming, Ecclestone lost his temper and swore at Mosley, by Stoddart’s account. As if on cue, irate fans hurled beer cans onto the racetrack after 14 of the 20 cars withdrew from the race.
“It’s the first time in all the years I’ve known Bernard when he hasn’t been in control,” Stoddart says.
Total Control
For his part, Ecclestone now says Mosley was “probably right” to stop the race because the FIA president could have faced a murder charge if another crash on the same turn caused a fatality.
Total control has been the hallmark of Ecclestone’s three- decade reign over the world’s most profitable and popular auto- racing series.
As chief executive officer of London-based Formula One Management Ltd. -- or simply “F1 Supremo” as the papers style him -- Ecclestone transformed a niche series largely confined to Europe into a complexly structured, $4 billion commercial enterprise that brings in sales of $1 billion a year, stages races in 18 countries and attracts about 50 million TV viewers on an average race Sunday.
These days, Ecclestone is struggling to keep his grip on the business.
Bribery Case
At 81, he’s under pressure on several fronts. Prosecutors in Germany have named him as a Beschuldigter, or suspect, in a bribery case linked to the sale of Formula One six years ago. Ecclestone, who hasn’t been charged, is scheduled to testify in a Munich court today and tomorrow.
In addition, race teams such as Ferrari and McLaren, which complain that Ecclestone is failing to keep Formula One up with the times, are considering putting on a breakaway series that would weaken F1. The teams’ contractual obligations, including staying in F1, expire after 2012.
The greatest threat of all to Ecclestone’s dominance could come from a looming takeover bid.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and the Agnelli family’s Exor SpA (EXO) want to buy the 63.4 percent of Formula One owned by London- based buyout firm CVC Capital Partners Ltd. through its Jersey, Channel Islands-based holding company Delta Topco Ltd.
The would-be buyers are pushing ahead despite News Corp.’s run-ins with U.K. authorities over a phone-hacking scandal involving one of its newspapers, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
‘Bloody Enormous’
CVC, which manages $44 billion, has invested in Formula One and 53 other companies, including luggage maker Samsonite International SA and Spanish road-toll operator Abertis Infraestructuras SA.
CVC executives declined to comment on the Formula One takeover interest, referring calls to Ecclestone, who owns a 5.3 percent stake in F1. He says it would take a “bloody enormous” bid for CVC to sell.
“We’ve been building it -- more audience, more income,” Ecclestone says. Ultimately, he says, CVC Managing Director Donald Mackenzie will decide. “He’s the guy who will turn the lights on and off,” Ecclestone says. “I have very few shares, so it’s nothing to do with me.”
Under CVC’s ownership, Ecclestone says he has retained complete autonomy over management even without the full control of the commercial rights he had in the late 1990s.
‘No Angel’
All the same, his holding is now smaller than that of his former wife Slavica. The mother of his daughters Tamara, 27, and Petra, 23, controls 8.5 percent of the business through a family trust, Bambino Holdings Ltd.
Slavica, a 6-foot-2-inch (188-centimeter) Croatian who stands a foot taller than Ecclestone, was granted a divorce in the U.K. in an out-of-court settlement in 2009 after 24 years of marriage. Among several other owners, the administrators of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ), which went bankrupt in 2008, control 15.3 percent of F1.
The son of a fisherman, Bernard Charles Ecclestone was born into the Great Depression in Suffolk, England.
During World War II, he used money earned delivering newspapers to buy buns to sell at school for a 25 percent profit, according to No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone by Tom Bower (Faber & Faber, 2011). Ecclestone left school at 16 and built up a secondhand motorbike and car business in south London.
Key Commercial Insight
Ecclestone came to Formula One at age 28 in an era when race cars were not plastered with sponsor logos and the drivers included a Spanish marquis and a Thai prince. He bought two cars from the England-based Connaught Engineering team and in a brief stint as a driver failed to qualify for the Monaco Grand Prix.
After buying three-time champion Jack Brabham’s team in 1971, Ecclestone went on to lead the organization that represented the racing outfits, then called the Formula One Constructors Association, and in 1981 won control of the sport’s television rights from the FIA.
That was Ecclestone’s key commercial insight, one that would set an example for the English Premier League in soccer: to see that Formula One’s future lay in selling TV rights.
By then, his first marriage, to telephone operator Ivy Bamford, had ended in divorce. Ecclestone met Slavica, his second wife, at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, where she was working as a model. They married in 1985.
By that time, Ecclestone was well on his way to becoming one of Britain’s richest men. In 2004, he would sell what was at the time London’s most expensive residence to steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal for 57 million pounds ($90 million).
TV Rights
In 1993, Ecclestone helped install Mosley, then his legal adviser, as FIA president. Two years later, he acquired F1’s commercial rights, including television rights, from FIA for 15 years. He later extended the agreement until 2110.
From 1999 to 2001, he sold off 75 percent of the business for a combined $2 billion to Morgan Grenfell Private Equity Ltd., Hellman & Friedman LLC and Leo Kirch’s German media group. Following heart surgery in 1999, Ecclestone says, he transferred 25 percent to the family trust to mitigate his heirs’ inheritance tax liabilities.
Through it all, Ecclestone survived a number of hazards, including the collapse of Kirch’s empire in 2002 -- eventually brokering a deal for CVC to buy the Formula One business from Kirch creditor Bayerische Landesbank -- and a breakaway threat by race teams in 2005.
‘We Challenge Him’
Today, more than half a century after Ecclestone’s first foray into Formula One, questions about his future have overtaken talk of his past successes.
The teams he once ruled grumble that his business model is outdated, prizing TV rights, which bring in about $500 million a year, over promoting an Internet presence that could attract a new fan base.
By not aggressively promoting the series in markets such as China and the U.S., where Formula One is less popular than elsewhere, Ecclestone is failing to attract new audiences, says Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren Racing Ltd. CEO and chairman of the Formula One Teams Association.
“The way F1 is consumed is going to change over the next few years,” Williams team Chairman Adam Parr said during a question-and-answer session with fans in June. “It’s time we challenge him.”
In addition to TV rights, F1 revenue comes from fees charged to race promoters -- often the cities or countries where the circuits are located.
‘We’re Poorly Paid’
Those fees amounted to $535 million in 2010, according to London-based industry monitor Formula Money. The teams, which get about half of the $1 billion in total annual revenue, feel shortchanged by Ecclestone, says Mark Jenkins, a professor of business strategy at England’s Cranfield University and co- author of Performance at the Limit: Business Lessons From Formula 1 Motor Racing (Cambridge, 2009).
“Let’s be clear: We’re poorly paid,” says Vijay Mallya, the billionaire owner of the Force India F1 team, as he holds court in the team trailer across the water from his 312-foot (95- meter) yacht Indian Empress at the European Grand Prix in Valencia in June.
The chairman of Bangalore-based United Breweries Holdings Ltd. (UB), which controls liquor, beer and airline companies, says he’s delving into his personal fortune to keep his Force India team going. A holding company Mallya co-owns bankrolled Force India’s $63 million loss in 2009, according to team filings.
“Many of the teams feel that in a sense he stole the business from them,” Jenkins says of Ecclestone. “They were the show, and he effectively appropriated that show.”
New Threat
While Ecclestone rejects such accusations, saying he took financial risks when teams didn’t, there’s talk once again among some teams of a breakaway series. In 2005, Ecclestone promised Ferrari an annual $50 million sweetener to sign new Formula One terms, thereby dividing a rebel group of teams that were plotting secession, according to Bower’s biography.
Ecclestone scoffs at the new threat. Formula One is hardly unknown, he says, slipping into a playful sarcasm. “We’re known worldwide, so I suppose we must have done something right.” He derides the idea that teams have a real chance to mount a breakaway or unseat him. “I don’t know where they meet -- probably Starbucks or somewhere,” he says. “These are nice coffee chats.”
Bower says Formula One is definitely a healthy business. “It’s an amazing moneymaking machine,” he says.
‘A Bribe?’
The series generated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $428 million in 2009, according to filings by Delta 3 UK, a unit of Formula One holding company Delta Topco Ltd.
CVC sealed the deal after borrowing $2.5 billion in 2005 to acquire Bayerische Landesbank’s 48 percent holding and most of the Ecclestone family’s 25 percent stake. As part of the transaction, Ecclestone re-acquired a 5.3 percent stake.
Former FIA President Mosley says quick thinking has kept Ecclestone in a dominant position. “If he went into a revolving door behind you, he would come out in front,” Mosley says.
Nonetheless, Ecclestone’s hand is weaker than it used to be. His one-time ally Mosley stepped down as FIA president in 2009, and Ecclestone doesn’t have the same rapport with his successor, former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt, Jenkins says.
On another front, German prosecutors said earlier this year they were investigating suspicions -- Verdachte -- that Ecclestone bribed former Bayerische Landesbank risk manager Gerhard Gribkowsky in the sale of Formula One to CVC. “A bribe?” Ecclestone says. “You shouldn’t believe all you read, you know.”
‘Very Far-Fetched’
Ecclestone said he was interviewed by prosecutors in April. He declined to comment further.
Gribkowsky has been charged with breach of trust, accepting bribes and tax evasion. Rainer Bruessow, Gribkowsky’s lawyer in the case, which went on trial in October, says the allegations against his client are “manufactured and very far-fetched.”
CVC said in a statement that it isn’t aware of a payment to Gribkowsky in relation to the buyout.
As vulnerable as Ecclestone is, Formula One suitor News Corp. (NWSA) is embroiled in a phone-hacking scandal in the U.K. that has caused it to shut down the News of the World newspaper, which has admitted accessing the voice mail accounts of celebrities and others.
Amid the controversy, News Corp. announced it was shelving a £7.8 billion offer for the 61 percent of pay-television broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY) it doesn’t own. In July, BSkyB won the rights to broadcast the entire F1 series for seven years from March 2012 onward.
The U.K. sideshow is diverting News Corp.’s attention away from its F1 bid, says Tim Westcott, an analyst for media consulting firm IHS Screen Digest in London.
James Murdoch
A person familiar with the situation counters that the bid was very much alive as of mid-October. That individual says News Corp. Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch, the 39-year- old son of CEO Rupert, and Exor chief executive John Elkann, 35, are actively courting racing-team owners and working on a 5- to 10-year business plan for Formula One.
News Corp., whose pay-television channels already air Formula One races in Germany and the U.S., faces another obstacle, Westcott says: It would have to agree to a raft of conditions to assure European Union regulators that it’s not going to monopolize the television rights. Alice Macandrew, a spokeswoman for News Corp. in London, declined to comment, as did Exor spokesman Richard Holloway.
Socialite Daughters
Today, Ecclestone continues to run Formula One from a glass-fronted building he bought in 1985.
He’s usually in his office overlooking London’s Hyde Park by 9 a.m., sometimes lunches not far away in Knightsbridge at the restaurant in the Emporio Armani store and shuns nightlife unless it’s to turn out for a party hosted by his high-spending socialite daughters. In August, Petra’s wedding featured live performances by the Black Eyed Peas.
Ecclestone conducts business with a mobile phone, whose ring tone is from the soundtrack of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and jets to races in his own Dassault Falcon 7X. According to Bower, he travels with a briefcase full of cash. “If I do, it’s my own money,” Ecclestone says.
As the mid-morning sun beats down on the Valencia race circuit in June, Ecclestone sits at a desk in an air-conditioned mobile office. Soundproofing turns the roar of cars speeding around city streets at 180 miles per hour during a practice session into a hum.
‘I Could Just Walk’
Ecclestone says he’s still the best person to run F1. “I travel all over the world, and when I shake hands with people they know a deal’s a deal, and that gives me a lot of credibility,” he says. “It takes a lot to build that up.”
With others threatening to take the wheel from him, he doesn’t rule out simply pulling over and retiring. “I could just walk out,” he says.
What he won’t do, he says, is help new owners find a successor: “That would be like Frank Sinatra looking for another singer.”
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:35.002
2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 8.433
3. Alonso Ferrari + 24.301
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 25.529
5. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:05.421
6. Rosberg Mercedes + 1:06.851
7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1:24.183
8. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
10. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
12. Senna Renault + 1 lap
13. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
14. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps
16. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
17. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps
18. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 4 laps
Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:27.457
Not classified:
Driver Team On lap
Massa Ferrari 33
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 25
Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 13
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 3
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1
World Championship standings, round 17:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 374 1. Red Bull-Renault 595
2. Button 240 2. McLaren-Mercedes 442
3. Alonso 227 3. Ferrari 325
4. Webber 221 4. Mercedes 145
5. Hamilton 202 5. Renault 72
6. Massa 98 6. Force India-Mercedes 51
7. Rosberg 75 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41
8. Schumacher 70 8. Sauber-Ferrari 41
9. Petrov 36 9. Williams-Cosworth 5
10. Heidfeld 34
11. Sutil 30
12. Kobayashi 27
13. Alguersuari 26
14. Di Resta 21
15. Buemi 15
16. Perez 14
17. Barrichello 4
18. Senna 2
19. Maldonado 1
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m24.178s 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.474s + 0.296 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m24.508s + 0.330 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m24.519s + 0.341 5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.950s + 0.772 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.122s + 0.944 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m25.451s + 1.273 8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 9. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari Q2 cut-off time: 1m26.319s Gap ** 11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m26.319s + 1.662 12. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.337s + 1.680 13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m26.503s + 1.846 14. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m26.537s + 1.880 15. Bruno Senna Renault 1m26.651s + 1.994 16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m27.247s + 2.590 17. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.562s + 2.905 Q1 cut-off time: 1m27.479s Gap * 18. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.876s + 1.687 19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m28.565s + 2.376 20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m28.752s + 2.563 21. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m30.216s + 4.027 22. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m30.238s + 4.049 23. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m30.866s + 4.677 24. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m34.046s + 7.857 107% time: 1m32.222s
* Gap to quickest in Q1
** Gap to quickest in Q2
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.706s 33 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m25.794s + 0.088 34 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.930s + 0.224 34 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.454s + 0.748 26 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m26.500s + 0.794 30 6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.714s + 1.008 28 7. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m27.316s + 1.610 34 8. Bruno Senna Renault 1m27.498s + 1.792 36 9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m27.853s + 2.147 35 10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.868s + 2.162 35 11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m27.890s + 2.184 37 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.050s + 2.344 34 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.289s + 2.583 36 14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.552s + 2.846 31 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m28.691s + 2.985 29 16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m28.708s + 3.002 24 17. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m29.332s + 3.626 39 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m30.241s + 4.535 41 19. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m31.098s + 5.392 38 20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.469s + 5.763 32 21. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m31.804s + 6.098 28 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m32.593s + 6.887 12 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m32.768s + 7.062 33 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m32.824s + 7.118 33
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 01. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.836s 22 02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m27.416s + 0.580 23 03. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m27.428s + 0.592 27 04. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m28.394s + 1.558 23 05. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m28.531s + 1.695 23 06. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m28.542s + 1.706 29 07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m28.644s + 1.808 22 08. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m28.705s + 1.869 23 09. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m29.219s + 2.383 24 10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m29.355s + 2.519 29 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m29.700s + 2.864 24 12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m29.705s + 2.869 22 13. Bruno Senna Renault 1m29.799s + 2.963 20 14. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m30.132s + 3.296 25 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m30.367s + 3.531 21 16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m30.566s + 3.730 19 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m30.699s + 3.833 22 18. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m30.818s + 3.982 22 19. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m32.487s + 5.651 24 20. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m32.771s + 5.935 24 21. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m33.928s + 7.092 27 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m34.113s + 7.277 30 23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m35.896s + 8.960 19 24. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m35.899s + 9.063 4
The trial of a former Bayerische Landesbank manager over what prosecutors say were $44 million in bribes to facilitate the sale of the bank’s stake in Formula One racing may shed light on business practices at the world’s most- watched racing series.
Gerhard Gribkowsky, 53, was charged in July with accepting bribes, breach of trust and tax evasion. Prosecutors claim he received the bribes as part of the 2005 sale of BayernLB’s 47 percent stake in Formula One to CVC Capital Partners Ltd.
The trial began today in Munich is scheduled to feature testimony from Formula One Chief Executive Officer Bernard Ecclestone, who is also being investigated, and CVC managing partner Donald Mackenzie. The criminal trial is one of several lawsuits stemming from the transaction in Germany and England.
“It’s going to be fascinating,” Tom Cannon, a professor at England’s Liverpool University who has researched the way Formula One and other sports are financed, said. “Ecclestone has found ways of resolving conflicts before they got to court; this time, he hasn’t managed to.”
BayernLB acquired the Formula One stake following the 2002 bankruptcy of Leo Kirch’s media group. Gribkowsky, BayernLB’s chief risk officer at the time, quickly clashed with the Formula One chief and sued him in a London court over corporate governance rules Ecclestone changed to limit the lender’s influence.
$50 Million Demand
Ecclestone wanted to push BayernLB out and saw a chance when CVC signaled its interest, prosecutors said in the indictment. Gribkowsky demanded $50 million from Ecclestone as a reward for consenting to the deal and threatened to disclose possible tax violation by a trust run by Ecclestone’s wife at the time, prosecutors said.
Both men agreed on a plan that funneled $44 million to Gribkowsky through sham contracts and off-shore companies, according to prosecutors. Gribkowsky then single-handedly negotiated the purchase agreement without seeking alternative bids, prosecutors said. BayernLB’s share was sold for 840 million euros.
Rainer Bruessow, Gribkowsky’s lawyer, told reporters before the hearing began that the allegation will collapse and the trial will end with an acquittal.
CVC had no knowledge of any payment to Gribkowsky, the company said in an e-mailed statement last week.
Nov. 9 Testimony
Ecclestone, who has denied any wrongdoing, is scheduled to testify Nov. 9 and 10. His attorney Sven Thomas didn’t reply to an e-mail seeking comment.
Because Ecclestone didn’t want to pick up the tab for the bribes, Gribkowsky set up another scam to funnel money from BayernLB to the Formula One chief, according to the indictment. The bank manager signed a sham contract under which BayernLB had to pay Ecclestone a kickback of $41.4 million and another $25 million to his then wife’s trust, prosecutors claim.
For BayernLB, which received a 10 billion-euro ($13.9 billion) government bailout following losses on U.S. subprime mortgages, the trial is one of several legal issues. In June, Munich prosecutors charged the lender’s former management with breach of trust over the 2007 purchase of Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank International AG.
“A quick solution of the Gribkowsky case is of particular importance to BayernLB to prevent it from leading a permanent multifront war with its owners, clients, bank supervisors and EU authorities,” said Bernd Rudolph, an finance professor at Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians-University.
Auditors
BayernLB had its internal audit department check the bank’s processes during the Formula One sale and also asked an external auditor to verify the sales price, BayernLB spokesman Matthias Luecke said. Neither review found any wrongdoing, he said.
A day before he was arrested in January, Gribkowsky told prosecutors he was aware of the fact that he didn’t “really have a right” to the money he received and that he was “just lucky,” according to a memo by Munich prosecutors obtained by Bloomberg News.
His plan was to use the money to help children with cancer, the document cites him as saying. Ecclestone initially offered him even $80 million, Gribkowsky said. Prosecutor told him his claims were “implausible,” according to the memo.
Gribkowsky has been in custody since Jan. 5. The court has scheduled 26 days of trial and about 40 witnesses have been called to testify.
