Later, Ecclestone repeated the point when addressing the judge, Mr Justice
Newey, saying that he had been “in a hurry yesterday and made some answers
which I’d like to go back on if I have the opportunity”.
Ecclestone will be back in the High Court on Monday, when his
cross-examination is expected to finish. His counsel, Robert Miles QC, will
then have the opportunity to ask him questions.
Ecclestone and three other parties are facing accusations that they paid $44
million in bribes to a German banker, Gerhard Gribkowksy, to purposefully
undervalue the sport when it was sold to its current owners CVC Capital
Partners, in 2005. Constantin Medien, a former shareholder in Formula One,
claims it lost out on a hefty commission as a result.
Focusing on Ecclestone’s dealings with Gribkowsky, Marshall claimed that F1’s
chief executive stood to gain a huge amount from the sale to CVC.
Ecclestone was paid $41 million commission, which he did not declare to CVC,
as well as a 5.3 per cent shareholding worth an estimated $263 million, as
well as retaining almost total control of the sport.
The most heated exchanges, however, concerned a loan which Ecclestone
allegedly tried to purchase for $150 million, and which he denied any
knowledge of.
“So this has just been made up, has it?” Marshall asked.
“Well, it must have been if it wasn’t true,” Ecclestone said.
“I have to suggest you’re just lying about this, aren’t you?” Marshall said.
“You’ve been lying about it repeatedly throughout this afternoon.”
Ecclestone said that he would reveal all about the loan in time but that he
advised Marshall “not to get involved in it”.
Earlier in the day, it was revealed that Ecclestone had telephoned Fred
Goodwin, then chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, to ask for help
to finance CVC’s takeover of Formula One. Goodwin, who later became known as
“Fred the Shred” following the near-collapse of RBS, was in charge at the
bank when they sponsored the Williams
team. CVC went on to purchase a controlling stake in Formula One, backed by
a loan from RBS.
Marshall suggested that Ecclestone had engineered the sale to CVC as his
“preferred purchaser”, telling its chairman Donald MacKenzie, that it would
cost $2 billion to buy the sport, while denying rival bidders such as
Rothschild bank, Hutchison Whampoa and American firm Bluewaters, the same
information.
Court proceedings were interrupted at one stage by a fire alarm warning, with
Ecclestone saying that he was prepared to continue to give evidence “through
the fire”.
The case continues.