Adam Cooper F1

Bernie Ecclestone may have won the battle in the UK high court today, but it remains to be seen whether he will win the war.

In the civil action for damages filed by Constantin Media the judge deemed that the German media group had suffered no loss in the sale of F1 to CVC and thus found in Bernie’s favour on the key point – but he also made it clear that he believed that Ecclestone had bribed jailed banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.

Mr Justice Newey said: “The payments were a bribe. They were made because Mr Ecclestone had entered into a corrupt agreement with Dr Gribkowsky on May 2005 under which Dr Gribkowsky was to be rewarded for facilitating the sale of BLB’s shares in the F1 Group to a buyer acceptable to Mr Ecclestone.”

That of course is the crux of the impending legal case Bernie faces in Germany. However a statement issued in his name today said that the UK verdict won’t necessarily have any impact on the upcoming case, essentially because a greater burden of proof will be required, and more witnesses will be compelled to appear.

It read as follows: “The key issue in the case was to determine whether BLB’s stake in F1, which it had inherited following the collapse of the Kirch group to whom BLB had lent significant sums, had been sold too cheaply in 2006, causing a potential loss to Constantin.

“Mr Ecclestone welcomes that he will have the opportunity to defend these bribery allegations properly in proceedings due to begin in Munich in April, when the relevant witnesses can be compelled to attend and be cross-examined by his lawyers. He is confident that he will be acquitted.”

Bernie Ecclestone has won a damages case brought against him in London by the German firm Constantin Medien, former owner of the F1 Group.

The media group, which claimed to have lost out over the sale of F1 to CVC in 2006, was suing for $140m.

Also included in their action was Ecclestone lawyer Stephen Mullens, family trust Bambino Holdings, and jailed banker Gerhard Gribkowksy. It was alleged that they had conspired to undervalue F1, while Constantin had a contract entitling it to a percentage of sale price, above a certain threshold.

The victory comes ahead of what it is likely to be a tougher legal battle for Ecclestone in Germany in the coming weeks.

The FIA has now formally ratified a rule change that will allow teams to play six curfew jokers rather than only two.

Although the change was tabled some time ago it has only just been added to the latest version of the Sporting Regulations. It will be in place only for this season, and as such acknowledges that teams face extra challenges in the first year of the new rules.

The regulations now say: “No team personnel who are associated in any way with the operation of the cars are permitted within the confines of the circuit during one eight hour period which commences eleven hours before the start of P1 and one six hour period which commence nine hours before the scheduled start time of P3.

“Each team will be permitted six individual exceptions to the above during a Championship season, however, two of these exceptions may not be used during a single Event. [Note: Revert to previous number of two exceptions for 2015].”

Meanwhile on Friday in Bahrain team will discuss the proposed tweaks to the qualifying rules, which will give drivers an extra set of option tyres in Q3, to help guarantee that the track remains busy. The top 10 would then start with the tyres with which they set their best time in Q2.

The FIA has now formally updated the F1 Sporting Regulations with a variety of changes that came to light over the winter.

Among the novelties for 2014 is the introduction of a five second penalty for minor offences, which can be taken before work starts at the driver’s next planned stop.

The regulations say: “The driver must enter the pit lane, stop at his pit for at least five seconds and then re-join the race. The relevant driver may however elect not to stop, provided he carries out no further pit stop before the end of the race. In such cases five seconds will be added to the elapsed race time of the driver concerned.

Later they add: “Whilst a car is stationary in the pit lane as a result of incurring a penalty [as above] it may not be worked on until the car has been stationary for at least five seconds.”

The plan to stop drivers parking on the slowing down lap in order to save a fuel sample – which is unlikely to be necessary now anyway given that there is a strict limit of fuel usage for the race – has also been confirmed. However it also covers other eventualities: “Under no circumstances may a driver stop his car on the track without justifiable reason.”

Crew members now have to wear helmets when working on the car in the pitlane during qualifying, as well as in the races.

One interesting novelty involves a method for following drivers to recognise total rookies during testing away from race weekends: “Cars being driven by drivers who do not possess a Super Licence must be fitted with a green rear light which must be illuminated at all times the car is on the track.”

Finally the previously announced ‘doughnut’ rule has been confirmed, as winning drivers do not have to comply with the requirement to head straight to parc ferme. They may now “perform an act of celebration before reaching parc fermé, provided any such act: a) Is performed safely and does not endanger other drivers or any officials. b) Does not call into question the legality of his car. c) Does not delay the podium ceremony.”

Simona De Silvestro has become an “affiliated driver” of Sauber, and the team says it plans to prepare her for a race seat in 2015.

The 25-year-old Swiss has been in the IndyCar series for the past four seasons.

Sauber explained “she is taking the next step in her career by joining a preparation programme with the Sauber F1 Team, with the goal to gain her super licence and prepare for a race seat in Formula One for 2015. The programme will include on track testing, simulator training, as well as mental and physical preparation.”

Team boss Monisha Kaltenborn said: “After four years in IndyCar, Simona’s ambition is to enter Formula one in 2015. We regard her as a very talented race driver, and we, therefore, decided to take her on board as an ‘affiliated driver’ and support her on her way to the pinnacle of motorsport.”

De Silvestro added: “This is a major step towards me achieving a life-long dream and I’m so happy to have the opportunity to take this step with such a great team. The Sauber F1 Team is a team with a legacy and the only Swiss team in Formula One, which I think makes this even more exciting. I can’t thank Monisha Kaltenborn and Peter Sauber enough for their support and belief in my abilities and for giving me this chance. I’m thrilled to have this extremely unique platform on which to prepare myself to take on the challenge.”

Michael Schumacher’s management says that his family “strongly believes” in prospects for his recovery, while stressing that there is nothing new to report about his progress as the wake-up process continues.

In the absence of any official word of late there has been ongoing speculation in the media about his situation.

“Michael’s family would like to again express their sincere thanks for the continuous sympathy coming from all over the world,” read a statement. “The good wishes they receive help the family and, we are convinced they also help Michael, who still is in a waking up process.

“As often in such situations no day is like the next. The family is thankful for one’s understanding that they would not wish to disclose medical details in order to protect Michael’s privacy. As assured from the beginning we will continue to communicate any decisive new information on Michael’s health state. We are aware that the wake up phase can take a long time.

“The family continues to strongly believe in Michael’s recovery and place all their trust in the doctors’, nurses’ and nursing auxiliaries’ team. The important thing is not the speed of the recovery but that Michael’s heal process progresses in a continuous and controlled way.”