Formula One holds its breath as Bernie Ecclestone’s bribery trial begins
F1 chief executive’s trial starts in Munich on Thursday Prosecutors have impressive track record in recent casesBernie Ecclestone goes on trial in Munich on Thursday and for the next five months Formula One will hold its breath. The man who transformed the sport into a billion-pound business and who has run it for four decades in his idiosyncratic and controversial way faces the possibility of 10 years in jail if found guilty of bribery. The sport could face an even longer term of uncertainty, even decline. The judge Ecclestone will be up against does not take any prisoners; or rather, he does. Peter Noll convicted the former German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky, a central figure in the Munich hearing, and sent him down for eight-and-a-half years in 2012. In his concluding statement, Noll said: "In this process we assume the driving force was Mr Ecclestone." Continue reading…
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