Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps 1. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.761s 95 2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m22.092s + 0.331s 132 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m22.466s + 0.705s 97 4. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m22.637s + 0.876s 105 5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m22.892s + 1.131s 89 6. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m23.541s + 1.780s 32 7. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m23.990s + 2.229s 40 8. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m24.233s + 2.472s 24 9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m24.334s + 2.573s 108 10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m24.779s + 3.018s 107 11. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m27.336s + 5.575s 96 12. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m34.485s + 12.724s 6
| 1 | Perez | Sauber | 1m21.761s |
| 2 | Massa | Ferrari | 1m22.092s +0.331 |
| 3 | Webber | Red Bull | 1m22.466s +0.705 |
| 4 | Barrichello | Williams | 1m22.637s +0.876 |
| 5 | Petrov | Renault | 1m24.233s +2.472 |
| 6 | Sutil | Force India | 1m24.334s +2.573 |
| 7 | Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1m24.779s +3.018 |
| 8 | Schumacher | Mercedes | 1m25.779s +4.018 |
| 9 | D'Ambrosio | Virgin | 1m29.355s +7.594 |
| 10 | Trulli | Lotus | 1m34.485s +12.724 |
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m21.865s 112 2. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.396s + 0.531s 120 3. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m22.670s + 0.805s 116 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m22.888s + 1.023s 57 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m23.324s + 1.459s 101 6. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m24.334s + 2.469s 118 7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.436s + 2.571s 107 8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m25.807s + 3.942s 100 9. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m26.090s + 4.225s 98 10. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m26.989s + 5.124s 29 11. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.982s + 7.117s 64
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps 1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m22.544s 97 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m22.910s + 0.366 74 3. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m22.937s + 0.393 27 4. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.117s + 1.573 90 5. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m24.735s + 2.191 20 6. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m25.039s + 2.495 38 7. Davide Valsecchi Lotus-Renault 1m25.406s + 2.862 50 8. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m26.004s + 3.460 48 9. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m26.030s + 3.486 31 10. Luiz Razia Lotus-Renault 1m26.723s + 4.179 29 11. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m32.060s + 9.516 57
The case against jailed German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky rumbles on. Last month Gribkowsky was arrested on suspicion of receiving a $50m bribe for allegedly undervaluing shares in SLEC, F1's commercial rightsholder, when they were sold to the sport's current majority owner CVC in 2006.
Gribkowsky was SLEC's chairman and he represented German bank BayernLB which owned a 47.2% stake in the company. As Bayern's representative Gribkowsky had a duty to get the best deal for the bank. The German prosecutors claim he did not do that and added that "the stake had been sold without being properly evaluated." For weeks Pitpass' business editor Chris Sylt has been saying that this is nonsense and, at last, other renowned outlets are catching on.
According to the German press , an article in weekly magazine Der Spiegel reports that other potential buyers of Bayern's shares offered much less than CVC. In any auction the market value of a product is determined by what buyers are prepared to pay. So if the other potential buyers, such as Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa and private equity firm Clearbrook Capital, were not prepared to pay Bayern as much as CVC then it is extremely hard to say that the sale undervalued Bayern's shares.
As an indication, the reports state that Hutchison offered $1bn for SLEC with Clearbrook offering $1.5bn. In contrast, as Pitpass has shown with absolute certainty, CVC paid $1.7bn so this in itself speaks volumes. Indeed, even if an accountant were to come forward with a valuation of Bayern's shares from 2006 showing that they were worth more than it received from CVC, this would be irrelevant if no one was prepared to pay it.
Spiegel has a circulation of over one million and reportedly employs 80 fact checkers so it is a very credible source. But it doesn't stop there. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that sources in Bayern say its F1 stake was sold "clearly above its book value." If both this and the Spiegel report are true there is pretty much no way that Bayern's SLEC shares could have been undervalued.
These conclusions tally perfectly with Pitpass' report that the stake isn't likely to have been undervalued since Bayern received a valuation yield of ?328m in 2006 and its results stated that the sale of the F1 shares "decisively contributed to the positive result." It also tallies with Pitpass'report that Bayern got a better rate for its stake than at least one of the other banks which sold SLEC shares to CVC so it clearly cannot have been undervalued.
It puts an interesting light on last week's revelation that CVC has instigated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the SLEC shares. As Pitpass has pointed out, given that F1 is a client of the two firms handling the investigation it was clearly not demanded by an external party. On this basis alone it may be unlikely that the firms will reach a different conclusion than the one which CVC and F1 itself has already reached - that the $50m was not paid for the shares to be undervalued. If that happens then F1 will most certainly not face the "turmoil" which Sky News speculated could ensue from the investigation.
Likewise, outlets which have suggested Ecclestone paid the money for undervaluing the shares could be left scrambling if the news from Spiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is proven to be true in court when Gribkowsky goes to trial. This outcome, combined with the investigation proving that no money was paid for undervaluing the shares, could be devastating for some media outlets.
They could be faced with having to prove why they dragged Ecclestone into their reports at all since, more than anything, there would be no evidence that the scandal should have turned the spotlight on him. Indeed, as one newspaper recently reminded its readers, Ecclestone has said "if the German newspapers write that I had something to do with the payments, which is absolute nonsense, I will take them to court."
Remarks
Bahrain will not host opening race of 2011
Barcelona to host final pre-season test
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Massa Ferrari 1m22.625s 121 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m23.442s + 0.817 69 3. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m23.550s + 0.925 90 4. Heidfeld Renault 1m23.657s + 1.032 95 5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.003s + 1.378 107 6. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m24.057s + 1.432 121 7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m24.177s + 1.552 64 8. Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.515s + 1.890 74 9. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m26.501s + 3.876 50 10. Schumacher Mercedes 1m27.079s + 4.454 114 11. Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m29.992s + 7.367 18
| 1 | Webber | Red Bull | 1m23.442s |
| 2 | Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1m23.550s +0.108 |
| 3 | Maldonado | Williams | 1m24.057s +0.615 |
| 4 | Sutil | Force India | 1m24.226s +0.784 |
| 5 | Massa | Ferrari | 1m24.929s +1.487 |
| 6 | Hamilton | McLaren | 1m25.094s +1.652 |
| 7 | Heidfeld | Renault | 1m26.203s +2.761 |
| 8 | Perez | Sauber | 1m26.914s +3.472 |
| 9 | Schumacher | Mercedes | 1m27.079s +3.637 |
| 10 | Trulli | Lotus | 1m29.992s +6.550 |
| 11 | D'Ambrosio | Virgin | 1m31.713s +8.271 |
Pos Driver Team/car Time Gap Laps 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.168s 92 2. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m23.463s + 0.295s 93 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.858s + 0.690s 93 4. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m24.815s + 1.647s 60 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m24.995s + 1.827s 139 6. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m25.454s + 2.286s 48 7. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.557s + 2.389s 115 8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m25.720s + 2.552s 102 9. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m26.155s + 2.987s 31 10. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m26.508s + 3.340s 123 11. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m26.598s + 3.430s 97 12. Giorgio Mondini Hispania-Cosworth 1m28.178s + 5.010s 39 13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.329s + 5.161s 42 14. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania-Cosworth 1m30.722s + 7.554s 32
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m23.315s 104 2. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m23.519s + 0.204 97 3. Alonso Ferrari 1m23.978s + 0.663 90 4. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m24.008s + 0.693 118 5. Heidfeld Renault 1m24.242s + 0.927 41 6. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.243s + 0.928 125 7. Rosberg Mercedes 1m24.730s + 1.415 131 8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.923s + 1.608 54 9. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m25.194s + 1.879 80 10. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m26.421s + 3.106 58 11. Petrov Renault 1m26.884s + 3.569 61 12. Liuzzi HRT-Coswrorth 1m27.044s + 3.729 70 13. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m27.242s + 3.927 66 14. Teixeira Lotus-Renault 1m31.584s + 8.269 26
Pos Driver Car/team Time Gap Laps 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m24.374s 37 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.485s + 1.111s 101 3. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.638s + 1.264s 57 4. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.641s + 1.267s 78 5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.365s + 1.991s 77 6. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m26.575s + 2.201s 26 7. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m26.912s + 2.538s 52 8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m27.512s + 3.138s 90 9. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m28.393s + 4.019s 116 10. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m30.065s + 5.691s 54 11. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m30.950s + 6.576s 116 12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m35.174s + 10.800s 20 13. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m44.324s + 19.950s 27
