Ecclestone not quitting after German bribery charge
'The shareholders will have to decide. Forget this story -- when my contract expires, they can replace me with whoever they want.' - Bernie Ecclestone
May 16 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has played down the notion he might quietly retire off the back of his German bribery charges.
Although F1's 82-year-old chief executive and his Munich lawyers insist the official charge sheet has not actually been received, it is now widely accepted that prosecutors will ask the district court to hear charges related to the Gerhard Gribkowsky corruption affair.
"No, that's nonsense," Ecclestone is quoted by German newspaper Bild.
"The money I paid him had nothing to do with the sale of Formula One shares."
Asked if he will nonetheless retire as a result of the bribery charges, he insisted: "No. I don't think so.
"The shareholders will have to decide. Forget this story -- when my contract expires, they can replace me with whoever they want."
As for the German charges, Ecclestone said: "All I know is, I am innocent. And in the end the truth will come out."
Share Or Save This Story
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Sebastien Loeb to make traditional stage rallying return
Sebastien Loeb after 13 Dakar punctures: Cars now extremely robust, tyres the weak link
Sebastien Loeb left “almost at a standstill” in nightmare Dakar stage
What we learned from Thursday practice at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP
Lando Norris: McLaren’s Baku deficit is a “knife in the heart”
Imola building grandstands, Abu Dhabi plan A – What’s really going on with F1’s season finale?
Cadillac makes three major tech hires including former Red Bull design chief
What we learned from Thursday practice at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP
A look at McLaren and Audi's Baku F1 updates
Fernando Alonso’s idea to ‘save’ F1 before the V8 return – and how realistic it is
Top 10 F1 results changed by backmarkers – the clashes
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments