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       
       

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

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.