MOTORSPORT: Formula One bribery case widens

Monday motorsport report

March 10, 2014

Twenty on Flight MH370 had racing connection

The Formula One season kicks off this week in Melbourne under a cloud of widening corruption allegations against associates of the key man in the sport, Bernie Ecclestone.

A long-time Ecclestone lawyer now has been charged as well in the criminal bribery case against the F1 supremo due to start in a Munich court next month.

A lawyer for jailed banker Gerhard Gribkowsky, who was found to have received $US44 million ($A48.7m) from Ecclestone that a previous German trial deemed a bribe, also has been charged.

Meanwhile, fears are growing for the life of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher with no sign of improvement in his condition more than two months after his skiing accident in France.

Australia’s new F1 star Daniel Ricciardo clocked the fastest lap of Sydney Motorsport Park – formerly Eastern Creek – at the weekend in a four-year-old Red Bull RB7, almost two seconds faster than Mark Webber in the same car a year ago – but it’s an unofficial record.

More important now is the performance of Red Bull’s troublesome Renault-engined RB10 model against the Mercedes and Ferrari-powered other new-generation F1 cars in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s Albert Park next Sunday.

Red Bull reportedly has turned to its small associate team Toro Rosso for technical assistance after it was four seconds a lap off the pace at the end of pre-season testing and there is even speculation it will seek to switch to Honda engines as McLaren will next year.

And 20 employees of a Texas-based company that supplies parts to McLaren for electronic control units that have been used throughout F1 and NASCAR were aboard the Boeing 777 that vanished off Vietnam at the weekend with 239 people aboard.

Freescale Semiconductor’s processors go into ECUs that run fuel-injection systems.

It said 12 of its employees from Malaysia and eight from China were on Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.

Meantime, Australia’s top rally driver, Chris Atkinson, has finished seventh in his first Hyundai drive in the World Rally Championship, while the Korean manufacturer’s Belgian No 1 driver Thierry Neuville was on the podium at only the third rally for its i20 car. Volkswagen finished first and second in Mexico.

Finally, Dale Earnhardt Junior continues to lead NASCAR’s Sprint Cup despite running out of fuel on the last lap of today’s round at Las Vegas, handing victory to 2012 champion Brad Keselowski for Roger Penske’s Ford team as the Blue Oval mourned the death of William Clay Ford Senior, the son of company founder Henry Ford.

Ecclestone lawyer fourth charged over $US44m payment

As F1 teams set up in Melbourne and Australian Grand Prix chairman Ron Walker negotiates an extension of the race contract with Bernie Ecclestone, Stephen Mullens – a long-time lawyer and close confidant of Ecclestone – has been charged in relation to the $US44 million payment that landed Gerhard Gribkowsky in jail.

Mullens was the lawyer for Ecclestone’s $US4 billion family trust Bambino that paid Gribkowsky, the former risk manager for German bank Bayern LB that sold its shares in F1 in 2005 – a deal that has been at the heart of two recent large, but unsuccessful, civil damages cases against 83-year-old Ecclestone.

Gribkowsky was jailed two years ago for 8½ years for having received a bribe, even though nobody had been charged at that point with paying him a bribe.

Charges were laid against Ecclestone late last year and his trial is due to start in Munich next month and could last five months.

It is alleged Ecclestone paid Gribkowsky to discourage the banker from talking to British tax authorities about him in relation to Bambino.

Ecclestone does not deny the payment but claims Gribkowsky was blackmailing him, threatening to tell the tax authorities he controlled Bambino – which could have landed him with a massive tax bill.

Mullens has now been charged by German prosecutors in relation to the same matters, as has Gribkowsky’s former lawyer Gerald Toifl.

Civil damages suits in the US and London seeking almost $US1 billion combined have been dismissed – the American case because it was filed in the wrong jurisdiction, the British case because it was not proven that the 2005 sale of the F1 shares of a syndicate of banks to private equity company CVC had been undervalued.

In both cases it was alleged that Ecclestone wanted the shares steered to CVC because he knew it would retain him as F1’s chief executive.

Although Mr Justice Newey found in Ecclestone’s favour in the London High Court civil case, he said that Ecclestone had made a corrupt deal, that the payment to Gribkowsky was a bribe and that Ecclestone was an untruthful and unreliable witness.

Those remarks were observations rather than findings or a verdict.
Now it is for the German trial to decide whether the payment was criminal.

If convicted Ecclestone would face up to 10 years in jail.

However, he boldy predicted to BBC Sport a month ago that the trial would not go ahead.

“Bet you it doesn’t happen,” he said.

London’s Daily Mail reported several weeks ago that Ecclestone could settle the case by paying almost 10 times the amount he paid Gribkowsky – that is, about $US400 million – to parties nominated by the court, perhaps a charity or charities but maybe disadvantaged corporate parties.

That publication said such a settlement could not be made until the case began.

CVC, which has reduced its controlling stake in F1 but remains the largest shareholder, has said it would sack Ecclestone if he was convicted of wrongdoing.

Companies involved in the sport, particularly Mercedes-Benz, are known to be concerned about the allegations against Ecclestone.

A recent report by the Reuters news agency commented: “The looming trial and the damning conclusions of a British judge … have sparked a fresh bout of speculation that Ecclestone’s long reign is drawing to a close.

“His departure would almost certainly lead to a change in structure, with power more evenly spread across a broader executive team.

“The uncertainty over Ecclestone’s future makes it hard to revisit stalled efforts for a stock market listing of the business.”

Not surprisingly, Ecclestone won’t be in Melbourne this week for the season-opening GP.

Hyundai is cockahoop after Thierry Neuville’s third place in a rally of attrition in Mexico gave it its first WRC podium at just its third event with its i20 – and Chris Atkinson also finished, in seventh place after lots of early woes.

Team principal Michel Nandan said the results were “hugely significant … fantastic … a huge reward for a lot of hard work and determination”.

As creditable as the results are, it should be noted that Neuville finished almost 5½ minutes behind the victorious Volkswagen Polo R of French world champion Sebastien Ogier and more than four minutes behind the second-placed VW of Finn Jari-Matti Latvala.

Atkinson, in his debut with Hyundai and his first WRC event for more than a year, finished 15¼ minutes behind Ogier – but the Korean manufacturer said he had met all targets.

Ford Fiesta RSs filled fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth places, with the first Citroen DS3 in ninth.

The rally – with 22 stages, many of them long and one up to 56km – was the first of the world championship on gravel and at high altitude after the snow and ice of Monte Carlo and Sweden.

“It’s not been an easy weekend, but what a way to end it – for the team to celebrate a two-car finish and our debut podium (by Neuville),” Atkinson said.

“Mexico is a tough rally and I have had to deal with a few issues during the event (including losing 24 seconds on the first stage after he had to reset computer software within 60 metres of the start).

“We (Atkinson and Belgian co-driver Stephane Prevost) had a suspension problem on Friday, which put us down the order, and then we had to run early in the subsequent stages, which meant a lot of slippery conditions.

“We had to play things sensibly and drive cautiously to achieve our objective of finishing the event, which I am pleased we did comfortably.

“We made some improvements during the rally and I’m pretty satisfied with seventh overall – and more importantly to finish.

“This experience will be really useful for the team to improve the car for the rest of the year.

“I look forward to returning to the cockpit of the i20 later in the season.”

World Rally Championship driver standings after three rounds – 1. Sebastien Ogier (France, Volkswagen) 63 points; 2. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland, VW) 60; 3. Mads Østberg (Norway, Citroen) 32; 4. Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway, VW) 24; 5. Elfyn Evans (Great Britain, Ford) 20; 6. Bryan Bouffier (France, Ford) 18; 7. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland, Ford) 18; 9. Kris Meeke (GB, Citroen) 17; 10. Thierry Neuville (Belgium, Hyundai) 15. Chris Atkinson (Australia, Hyundai) is 15th on six points after just one event.

WRC team standings – 1. Volkswagen Motorsport 115 points; 2. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 60; 3. M-Sport World Rally Team 40; 4. Hyundai Motorsport 31; 5. Volkswagen Motorsport II 28.

Earnhardt out of gas but still on top

NASCAR’s most popular but rarely victorious driver, Dale Earnhardt Junior, has finished first, second and second in three rounds of the Sprint Cup, but his championship lead is the narrowest possible after Brad Keselowski’s win at Las Vegas.

Earnhardt gambled on not stopping for fuel late in the race and his Chevrolet ran dry on the second turn of the last lap, allowing Keselowski’s Penske Ford to sweep to victory.

“We took a gamble and we didn’t win the race, but it still worked in our favour to run second,” Earnhardt said.

“It sucks to lose like that, but we can’t let this be a negative.”

 While it has been Earnhardt’s best start to a season, he leads Keselowski by only one point, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Penske teammate Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon.

Like Earnhardt, Johnson and Gordon drive Chevrolets for Hendrick Motorsports.

Australian Marcos Ambrose started from the rear of the 43-car field at Las Vegas in his Ford and finished 24th – one place ahead of Richard Petty Motorsports teammate 

Aric Almirola and three behind Danica Patrick’s Chev.

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