Bernie Ecclestone Indicted on Bribery Charge

Beeblebrox237

Beeblebrox237

Two heads, no brains...
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The BBC has reported that Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has been indicted on a bribery charge. He stands accused of making a £29 million payment to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky of Bayern Landesbank. Mr. Ecclestone claims that he gave Mr. Gribkowsky the money to keep him from giving UK tax authorities false information, and that proving that the allegation was false would have been far more expensive. If Mr. Ecclestone is found guilty, he faces a possible jail term, something which would likely force him to retire as head of Formula 1.

Thoughts?
 
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Well, it wouldn't surprise me if he had. However if he does have to retire from head of F1 then I will miss his humour and his trolling. Whilst people say how much money he is sucking out of the sport you also have to remember the work he did promoting the sport in the 70's and 80's to make it as large as it is now, without him F1 would likely be much smaller.

 
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Bernie interviews are usually one of the highlights of an F1 weekend. He might be old but he certainly isn't going senile, he's still as sharp as a tack.
 
So in Bernie's view he didn't commit bribery because the money was to stop the german guy from exposing him to the UK Tax authorities, not the rights sale?
Isn't that still bribery as well as practically admitting tax avoidance?
 
You get the impression that some within F1 fear (or look forward to) when Bernie leaves the sport because some see him as the "sort it out" guy who doesn't take crap from anybody and will bash some skulls together to make sure the sport is sorted out commercially.

However, I'm not sure how true that is and how much is just image. Certainly when Bernie is gone there is going to be some sort of power-struggle going on between the teams, the FIA, the manufacturers and CVC.

Hopefully for F1's sakes, everyone is sensible when that happens and they don't end up like Indycar/Champcar.

NFSCARBON1
So in Bernie's view he didn't commit bribery because the money was to stop the german guy from exposing him to the UK Tax authorities, not the rights sale?
Isn't that still bribery as well as practically admitting tax avoidance?
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Yeah pretty much.
Really Bernie would be helped with some Ron-speak in this situation as it sounds like the perfect time to explain things in the most confusing sounding-way possible.
 
I believe I said this once before: Bernie Ecclestone is not the problem with Formula One, the problem is the FIA and their obsession with "greenpeace" technologies among other issues. If and when Bernie has to step down, there will be an ugly battle for the next boss of F1. :scared:
 
I'd have to agree with PM sadly, this is one of those times where it might be better for him to stay and groom someone to take over, than be abruptly out and have a quick replacement. I don't like Bernie, from his track host sale hikes which raise ticket sales, to his favoritism of certain host, outrageous charges and license of F1 in general, plus more. I'd like to see the guys that wanted sprinklers to make pseudo rain and shake up the races gone, but the next guy may actually do it and then at what cost?

I also agree with RVDNuT374, I dislike the FIA's roadblocks more so than FOM greed.
 
RVDNuT374
I believe I said this once before: Bernie Ecclestone is not the problem with Formula One, the problem is the FIA and their obsession with "greenpeace" technologies among other issues. If and when Bernie has to step down, there will be an ugly battle for the next boss of F1. :scared:
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"Green" tech isn't ruining the racing. What's ruining it is the fact that without introducing handicaps, it's impossible for a modern, front-running F1 car to overtake another modern, front-running F1 car over the course of the race.

However "artificial" any of the racing today is, it's better than watching over a dozen cars sit on Jarno Trulli's tail pipe for an entire race, or watching fifty two laps of McLarens and Ferraris glued to the tail-pipes of Fernando Alonso's Renault, with no chance of passing.

I'm iffy about DRS (they should allow its use anywhere and everywhere...), but KERS does add a certain layer of excitement to the proceedings, and the fact that both attacked and defender have it makes for some great strategy games.
 
niky
What's ruining it is the fact that without introducing handicaps, it's impossible for a modern, front-running F1 car to overtake another modern, front-running F1 car over the course of the race.
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And that's because the teams wont agree to cost-cutting measures. They know that the more money they spend on aero development, the faster they can go. Even if it costs $10 million to get a tenth of a second here or there, they'll happily spend that money without a second thought.
 
prisonermonkeys
And that's because the teams wont agree to cost-cutting measures. They know that the more money they spend on aero development, the faster they can go. Even if it costs $10 million to get a tenth of a second here or there, they'll happily spend that money without a second thought.
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What? The cost-cutting (or lack of it) is nothing to do with overtaking..or at least not in the backwards way you've just explained it.

It was actually the agreement to cut costs and avoid the original overhaul in the technical regulations for 2013 (smaller wings, more ground effects) that has prevented a move to make the cars more racey. DRS turned out to be popular in the TV figures and so FOTA felt that nothing more needed to be done and the cost of re-designing the cars wasn't worth it any more. To F1, the fans are happy.

The turbo engines are going to cost quite the price next year, not exactly cutting costs, eh? But its bringing back some manufacturer interest and with it comes sponsors and investment. This is quite sensible and a necessary move. While manufacturers should not be the only thing propping F1 up (as so elegantly displayed at the end of 2009), they still have a role to play in generating interest in F1 both from fans and sponsors.
 
According to what I must have heard somewhere doesn't he have something to do with the demise of the World Sportcar's and made sure F1 was the dominant series?
 
Diehardracer
According to what I must have heard somewhere doesn't he have something to do with the demise of the World Sportcar's and made sure F1 was the dominant series?
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Not sure how much Bernie had to do with it, but the FIA introduced new engine regulations for Group C cars in line with what was being used in F1 at the time, but this just led to privateer teams not being able to afford them, which left the series to the fickle major manufactures who all sooner or later dropped out, leaving Group C to be abandoned.
 
I wonder why 1st listed piece of news is about Bernie and the 3rd is about Ecclestone. Also I wonder, if Ecclestone isn't now trying to bribe seduce with money the whole of Germany now.

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