“The minute the court case is over then I’ll be back on the board again.”
Ecclestone said that, during the criminal proceedings, he will continue to
negotiate and make deals on Formula One’s behalf.
“All that’s happened is a few months ago we decided that if I had to appear in
court, during that period I would stand down from my role as a director of
Delta Topco [Formula One’s parent company].
“For Formula One Management it’s the same as before. There is no change at all.
“It’s just that if I wanted to buy something I can’t do it without board
approval, but when it comes to races, circuits, it will be as we’ve always
done. It will be the same thing.”
Ecclestone has always insisted he is innocent and that he did not bribe
Gribkowsky, who was chief risk officer from BayernLB, and has already been
jailed for his part in the affair.
The Formula One supremo faces charges of bribery and incitement to breach of
trust with a $44 million payment to Gribkowsky and, if he is found guilty,
he could face a sentence of between three months and 10 years.
Responding to the allegations, Ecclestone added: “I know I’m not guilty.
That’s for sure. Now whether I get convicted is another story.
“But all the [English] laywers say this [going to trial] should never, ever
have happened, and the German lawyers are saying the same thing, that there
is no case.”
Ecclestone, who says he made the payment to Gribkowsky between July 2006 and
December 2007 because he had been “shaken down” by the banker, and was
worried he would be reported to UK authorities over his tax affairs, is also
facing legal proceedings at the High Court in London.
He will soon learn the verdict of the hearing last year in which Constantin
Medien, a German media group, sued him and others for up to $144 million
(£88 million), alleging that Formula One’s sale to CVC Capital Partners in
2006 was undervalued.
After a meeting on Thursday to discuss the court proceedings in Germany
against Ecclestone, the board of Delta Topco said: “It is in the best
interests of both the F1 business and the sport that Mr Ecclestone should
continue to run the business on a day-to-day basis, but subject to increased
monitoring and control by the board. Mr Ecclestone has agreed to these
arrangements.
“The approval and signing of significant contracts and other material business
arrangements shall now be the responsibility of the chairman, Peter
Brabeck-Letmathe, and deputy chairman, Donald Mackenzie.”
Mackenzie, a co-founder of CVC Capital Partners, Formula One’s main
shareholder, said last November that if Ecclestone was found to have “done
anything that is criminally wrong, we would fire him”.