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92-506: In December 2013, Formula One President and CEO Bernie Ecclestone suggested that the race would be run in 2016 but later said that because the Korean Grand Prix organisers were in breach of contract , it would be moved to 2015 . However, in July 2014 it was announced that the race's debut would be delayed until 2016. The 6.003 km (3.730 mi), anti-clockwise layout of the circuit

184-455: A "glamour sport" and on the "false trail" of Jowell's husband's links to Benetton . On 6 November correspondents from three newspapers inquired whether Labour had received any donations from Ecclestone; he had donated £1 million in January 1997. On 11 November Labour promised to return the money on the advice of Sir Patrick Neill. On 17 November, Blair apologised for his government's mishandling of

276-630: A 14-year agreement with the FIA for the exclusive broadcasting rights for 18 FIA championships. In 1999, the European Commission investigated FIA, ISC and FOA for abusing dominant position and restricting competition. As a result, in early 2000 the ISC and FIA made a new agreement to reduce the number of rights packages to two, the World Rally and Regional Rally Championships. In April 2000 Ecclestone sold ISC to

368-553: A 1997 flotation of the group. In June 1999, the European Commission announced it would investigate the FIA, Formula One Administration (FOA) and International Sportsworld Communicators for abusing dominant position and restricting competition. ISC, owned by Ecclestone, had signed a 14-year agreement with the FIA in 1996 for the exclusive broadcasting rights for 18 FIA championships. In October 1999, Morgan Grenfell Private Equity (MGPE) acquired 12.5% of SLEC for £234 million. In February 2000, Hellman and Friedman purchased

460-420: A 37.5% share of SLEC for £625 million, and combined its share with that of MGPE to form Speed Investments, which had a combined holding of 50% of SLEC. On 22 March 2000, German media company EM.TV & Merchandising purchased Speed Investments for £1.1 billion. EM.TV's acquisitions caused it financial difficulties; following its announcement that its 2000 earnings would be below expectations and it

552-454: A Formula One team. He abandoned the highly successful customer car production business established by Jack Brabham and Tauranac – reasoning that to compete at the very front in Formula One you must concentrate all of your resources there. For the 1973 season , Ecclestone promoted Gordon Murray to chief designer. The young South African produced the triangular cross-section BT42, the first of

644-554: A German prosecutor in the Gerhard Gribkowsky case showed that Ecclestone had been under investigation by the UK tax authorities for nine years, and that he had avoided the payment of £1.2 billion through a legal tax avoidance scheme. HM Revenue and Customs agreed to conclude the matter in 2008 with a payment of £10 million. In a Times interview published on 4 July 2009, Ecclestone said "terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from

736-526: A chairman emeritus had since expired in January 2020. Formula One Group The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the promotion of the FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights. The Group was previously owned by Delta Topco, a Jersey -based company owned primarily by investment companies CVC Capital Partners , Waddell & Reed , and LBI Group , with

828-417: A drain cover came loose and caused significant damage to his Williams FW38 . Similarly, the first practice session of the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was cancelled when George Russell hit a loose drain cover. Many drivers praised the circuit for the challenge offered by its mixture of long straights, slow technical sections and no margin for error due to the proximity of the walls. In 2021, Rosberg criticised

920-495: A group led by David Richards . On 17 June 2005, Ecclestone made American headlines with his reply to a question about Danica Patrick 's fourth-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 , during an interview with Indianapolis television station WRTV: "She did a good job, didn't she? Super. Didn't think she'd be able to make it like that. You know, I've got one of these wonderful ideas that women should be all dressed in white like all

1012-640: A hamlet three miles south of Bungay . He was the son of Sidney Ecclestone, a fisherman, whose family was originally from Kent , and his wife Bertha Sophia (née Westley). Ecclestone attended primary school in Wissett in Suffolk before the family moved to Danson Road, Bexleyheath , southeast London, in 1938. He was not evacuated to the countryside during the Second World War and remained with his family. Ecclestone left Dartford West Central Secondary School at

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1104-521: A lot of cases, black people are more racist than what white people are." In response, Hamilton has countered Ecclestone, criticising him on Instagram for being "ignorant and uneducated", and that he has realised why nothing much has been done to address diversity and racism. Formula One Group also issued a statement, saying that they "completely disagree with Bernie Ecclestone's comments that have no place in Formula 1 or society", and had added that his title as

1196-571: A meeting with Blair. Ecclestone and Max Mosley, both Labour Party donors, met Blair on 16 October 1997, where Mosley argued: "Motor racing was a world class industry which put Britain at the hi-tech edge. Deprived of tobacco money, Formula One would move abroad at the loss of 50,000 jobs, 150,000 part-time jobs and £900 million of exports." On 4 November the "fiercely anti-tobacco Jowell" argued in Brussels for an exemption for Formula One. Media attention initially focused on Labour bending its principles for

1288-427: A move Murray described as "like having a holiday". Piquet formed a close and long-lasting relationship with Ecclestone and the team, losing the title after a narrow battle with Alan Jones in 1980 and eventually winning in 1981 and 1983. In the summer of 1981 Brabham had tested a car powered by a BMW turbo engine, and 1982 's new BT50 was powered by BMW 's turbocharged four-cylinder M10 . Brabham continued to run

1380-465: A number of eventually lucrative investments in property and loan financing and to manage the Weekend Car Auctions firm. He returned to racing in 1957 as manager of driver Stuart Lewis-Evans , and purchased two chassis from the disbanded Connaught Formula One team. Ecclestone even tried, unsuccessfully, to qualify a car himself at Monaco in 1958, although this has since been described as "not

1472-529: A partial owner of Rindt's 1970 Lotus Formula 2 team, whose other driver was Graham Hill . Rindt, on his way to the 1970 World Championship, died in a crash at the Monza circuit, though he was awarded the championship posthumously. During the 1971 season , Ecclestone was approached by Ron Tauranac , owner of the Brabham team, who was looking for a suitable business partner. Ecclestone made him an offer of £100,000 for

1564-568: A proposed European Union Directive banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship. At this time all leading Formula One Teams carried significant branding from tobacco brands. The Labour Party's stance on banning tobacco advertising was reinforced following the general election by forceful statements from the Health Secretary Frank Dobson and Minister for Public Health Tessa Jowell . Ecclestone appealed 'over Jowell's head' to Jonathan Powell , Tony Blair's chief of staff, who arranged

1656-405: A series of Ford-powered cars with which the Brabham team would take several victories in 1974 and 1975 with Carlos Reutemann and Carlos Pace . Despite the increasing success of Murray's nimble Ford-powered cars, Ecclestone signed a deal with Alfa Romeo to use its powerful but heavy flat-12 engine from the 1976 season . Although this was financially beneficial, the new BT45s were unreliable and

1748-657: A serious attempt". He also entered the British Grand Prix , but the car was raced by Jack Fairman . He continued to manage Lewis-Evans when he moved to the Vanwall team; Roy Salvadori moved on to manage the Cooper team. Lewis-Evans suffered severe burns when his engine exploded at the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix and died six days later; Ecclestone was shocked and once again retired from racing. His friendship with Salvadori led to his becoming manager of driver Jochen Rindt and

1840-466: A subsequent interview with The Jewish Chronicle , Ecclestone said that his comments were taken the wrong way, but apologised, saying, "I'm just sorry that I was an idiot. I sincerely, genuinely apologise." However, when Ecclestone was later told by Associated Press that the World Jewish Congress had called for his resignation, he said: "It's a pity they didn't sort the banks out," referring to

1932-613: A team owner he became a member of the Formula One Constructors Association , whom he led through the FISA–FOCA war . His control of the sport, which grew from his pioneering sale of the television rights in the late 1970s, was chiefly financial; under the terms of the Concorde Agreement , Ecclestone and his companies also controlled the administration, setup and logistics of each Grand Prix, thus making him one of

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2024-493: A £409m lawsuit against the 2005 sale of Formula One, alleging it was the sport's rightful owner. In May 2013, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the Munich prosecutors' office had charged Ecclestone on two counts of bribery after a two-year investigation into his relationship with Gribkowsky. In July 2013, German prosecutors indicted Ecclestone for alleged bribery. The charge relates to a $ 44 million (£29m) payment to Gribkowsky. It

2116-523: Is a Swiss registered company based in Geneva , which manages the sale of almost all Formula One trackside advertising, and the Formula One Paddock Club . Allsport Management was founded by Paddy McNally , who had begun to work with Bernie Ecclestone in the late 1970s. McNally, who was a former Marlboro sponsorship consultant, came up with a solution to "tidy up" trackside advertising; this solution

2208-515: Is a related Dutch registered company of the Formula One Group which claims ownership of the trademarks of Formula One; the F1 logo, "Formula 1", "Formula One", "F1" and the "Sweeping Curves device" shown before Grands Prix. Formula One Management ( FOM ) is the main operating company of the group, and controls the broadcasting, organisation and promotional rights of Formula One. The company produces

2300-474: Is money goes out and away. There's a question whether that money even returns to Formula One." Flavio Briatore also criticised FOM: "Nowadays Ecclestone takes 50% of all revenues, but we are supposed to be able to reduce our costs by 50%". Ecclestone was removed from his position as chief executive of Formula One Group on 23 January 2017, following its takeover by Liberty Media in 2016. In 1996, Ecclestone's International Sportsworld Communicators signed

2392-528: The 1987 season . Having bought the team from Ron Tauranac for approximately $ 120,000 at the end of 1971, Ecclestone eventually sold it for over US$ 5 million to a Swiss businessman, Joachim Luhti in 1988. In parallel to his activities as team owner, Ecclestone formed the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) in 1974 with Frank Williams , Colin Chapman , Teddy Mayer , Ken Tyrrell , and Max Mosley . He became increasingly involved with his roles at FISA and

2484-473: The 2005 United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The seven teams which refused to participate, stating concern over the safety of their Michelin tyres, requested rule changes and/or a change to the track configuration. Despite a series of meetings between Ecclestone, Max Mosley and the team principals, no compromise was reached by race time, and Ecclestone became an object of

2576-416: The 2007–2008 financial crisis , and stated: "They have a lot of influence everywhere." In a 2012 trial against the former BayernLB chief risk officer Gerhard Gribkowsky, the public prosecutor accused Ecclestone of being a co-perpetrator in the case. Gribkowsky confessed to the charges of tax evasion, breach of trust and for accepting bribes. In closing arguments at a Munich trial the public prosecutor told

2668-455: The Concorde Agreement gave FOCA the right to negotiate TV contracts. Under previous arrangements, TV contracts were risky and not very lucrative. When the second Concorde Agreement was agreed in 1987, Ecclestone ceased being a team owner and established Formula One Promotions and Administration (FOPA) to manage TV rights for the teams. FOPA would later become known as Formula One Management (FOM) . FOPA received 49% of TV revenues: 1% went to

2760-487: The European Commission . In the intervening period, Ecclestone instituted changes in the boards of SLEC, FOH, FOA and Formula One Management (FOM); which in effect put Bambino Holdings in control of those companies. In mid-November 2004, the three banks sued Ecclestone for more control over the sport, prompting speculation that Ecclestone might altogether lose the control he has maintained for then more than thirty years. A two-day court hearing began on 23 November, but after

2852-715: The Singapore Stock Exchange in June 2012, valuing the company at $ 10 billion. Up to 30% of the company would be listed, with most of the stock coming from the shareholding owned by the creditors of the bankrupt Lehman Brothers. However, the flotation was delayed until October 2012, with Ecclestone citing volatile markets and problems in the Eurozone . CVC sold part of its stake in the company to three investment companies: Waddell & Reed , BlackRock and Norges Bank ; reducing its holding to 35.5%, and making Waddell & Reed

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2944-542: The " F1 Supremo ", Ecclestone founded the Formula One Group in 1987, controlling the commercial rights to Formula One until 2017. Ecclestone began his career as a racing driver and entered two Grand Prix races during the 1958 season , but failed to qualify for either of them. Later, he became manager of drivers Stuart Lewis-Evans and Jochen Rindt . In 1972, he bought the Brabham team, which he ran for 15 years. As

3036-409: The 14.1% share of SLEC held by Lehman Brothers to give CVC a majority ownership in the Formula One Group with 63.4%, with other shareholdings owned by LBI Group, JP Morgan, and company directors. The deputy team principal of Force India , Bob Fernley , accused CVC of "raping the sport" during the period of its involvement in Formula One. The Formula One Group planned an initial public offering on

3128-522: The 1970s. The 2016 GP2 race , which was in support of the 2016 European Grand Prix , saw 12 out of 22 drivers fail to finish. Valtteri Bottas set a new unofficial Formula 1 top speed record in qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix when Williams claimed to have data showing him reaching 378 km/h (235 mph), eclipsing the previous record of 372 km/h (231 mph) set in 2005 by Juan Pablo Montoya for McLaren while testing at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza . Pirelli found that 90% of

3220-403: The 500cc Formula 3 Series, acquiring a Cooper Mk V in 1951. He drove only a limited number of races, mainly at his local circuit, Brands Hatch , but achieved a number of good placings and an occasional win. He initially retired from racing following several accidents at Brands Hatch, intending to focus on his business interests. After his accident, Ecclestone temporarily left racing to make

3312-659: The Alfa engines rendered them significantly overweight. The 1976 and 1977 seasons saw Brabham fall towards the back of the field again, before winning two races again in the 1978 season when Ecclestone signed the Austrian double world champion Niki Lauda , intrigued by Murray's radical BT46 design. The Brabham-Alfa era ended in 1979, the team's first season with the up-and-coming young Brazilian Nelson Piquet when Alfa Romeo started testing its own Formula One car during that season. This prompted Ecclestone to revert to Cosworth DFV engines –

3404-520: The FOCA in the 1970s, in particular with negotiating the sport's television rights, in his decades-long advocacy for team control. Ecclestone became chief executive of FOCA in 1978 with Mosley as his legal adviser; together, they negotiated a series of legal issues with the FIA and Jean-Marie Balestre , culminating in Ecclestone's famous coup, his securing the right for FOCA to negotiate television contracts for

3496-468: The Ford-powered BT49D in the early part of the season while reliability and driveability issues were sorted out by BMW and its technical partner Bosch . Ecclestone and BMW came close to splitting before the turbo car duly took its first win at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix but the partnership took the first turbo-powered world championship in 1983. The team continued to be competitive until 1985. At

3588-552: The Formula One Group. Ecclestone used the proceeds of this sale to purchase a stake in this new company (the exact ratio of the CVC/Ecclestone shareholding is unknown). On 6 December Alpha Prema acquired JP Morgan's share of SLEC to increase its ownership of Formula One to 86%; the remaining 14% was held by Lehman Brothers. On 21 March 2006 the EU competition authorities approved the transaction subject to CVC selling Dorna, which controls

3680-482: The Formula One World Championship. The commercial rights of Formula One are controlled by Formula One World Championship Limited (FOWC) , which received the rights to Formula One for a period of 100 years from the FIA. Formula One World Championship's control of the rights began from the beginning of 2011, where it took over from sister company Formula One Administration (FOA) , which controlled

3772-485: The Grand Prix weekend, and also gives access to teams and drivers and tours of the pits. In 2006, Allsport Management (and the related Allsopp Parker & Marsh companies) were acquired by CVC through Delta Topco, meaning that the sport's complete revenues are controlled by the Formula One Group. After the acquisition, Ecclestone stated "APM and Allsport Management have been developed into highly successful businesses over

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3864-455: The Grands Prix. For this purpose Ecclestone established Formula One Promotions and Administration , giving 47% of television revenues to teams, 30% to the FIA, and 23% to FOPA (i.e. Ecclestone himself); in return, FOPA put up the prize money – grand prix could literally be translated from French as "great prize". Television rights shuffled between Ecclestone's companies, teams, and the FIA in

3956-517: The Group and Ross Brawn was appointed to the newly created role of managing director, Motor Sports and technical director. In September 2020, it was announced that former Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali would become the new chief executive of the Formula One Group. On 28 November 2022 Ross Brawn confirmed he was retiring from F1. The Formula One Group is listed in the Nasdaq as a tracking stock under

4048-525: The affair and stated "the decision to exempt Formula One from tobacco sponsorship was taken two weeks later. It was in response to fears that Britain might lose the industry overseas to Asian countries who were bidding for it." In 2008, the year after Blair stepped down as Prime Minister, internal Downing Street memos revealed that the decision had been made at the time of the meeting, and not two weeks later as Blair stated in Parliament. Interviews conducted by

4140-535: The aforementioned teams protested by rejecting the following Concorde Agreement in 1997. A compromise was reached and a new Concorde Agreement was signed by all teams in 1998. McLaren, Williams, Ferrari and Renault formed GPWC Holdings, and threatened to form a rival racing franchise in 2008 when their contracts ended in 2007. SLEC Holdings was created as the holding company of the Formula One companies in 1996 when Ecclestone transferred his ownership of Formula One businesses to his wife, Slavica , in preparation for

4232-500: The age of 16 to work as an assistant in the chemical laboratory at the local gasworks testing gas purity. He also studied chemistry at Woolwich Polytechnic and pursued his hobby of motorcycles. Immediately after the end of the Second World War , Ecclestone went into business trading in spare parts for motorcycles, and formed the Compton & Ecclestone motorcycle dealership with Fred Compton. His first racing experience came in 1949 in

4324-481: The agreement associated with their shareholding, SLEC was controlled by Kirch, who controlled the board of Formula One Holdings (FOH). Due to huge losses and massive expenditure, Kirch's creditors put the company into receivership in 2002. These banks dismantled the group. Kirch's share of SLEC was retained by BayernLB, JPMorgan Chase and Lehman Brothers (through Speed Investments). Before they could exercise their rights as shareholders, they had to seek clearance from

4416-450: The companies. Ecclestone came under fire in October 2004 when he and British Racing Drivers' Club president Jackie Stewart were unable to come to terms regarding the future British Grand Prix , causing the race to be dropped from the 2005 provisional season calendar. Negotiations with Ecclestone to keep the race in Formula One ended in the signing of a contract on 9 December to guarantee

4508-604: The continuation of the British Grand Prix for the following five years. In mid-November 2004, the three banks comprising Speed Investments , which owns a 75% share in SLEC , which in turn controls Formula One – Bayerische Landesbank , J.P. Morgan Chase , and Lehman Brothers – sued Ecclestone for more control over the sport, prompting speculation that Ecclestone might altogether lose the control he had maintained for more than 30 years. A two-day hearing began on 23 November. After

4600-482: The court Ecclestone "hasn't been blackmailed, he is a co-perpetrator in a bribery case". According to the prosecutor and defendant, Ecclestone paid about $ 44 million to the former banker to get rid of the lender's stake in Formula One. Ecclestone told prosecutors he paid Gribkowsky because he blackmailed him with telling UK tax authorities about a family trust controlled by Ecclestone's former wife. In November 2012 private equity firm Bluewaters Communications Holdings filed

4692-490: The decision. The following day, at a meeting of team bosses at Heathrow Airport , Ecclestone offered the teams a total of £260 million over three years in return for unanimous renewal of the Concorde Agreement , which was due to expire in 2008. Weeks later, Gerhard Gribkowsky, a board member of BayernLB, and the chairman of SLEC, stated that the banks had no intention to remove Ecclestone from his position of control. In November 2005, CVC Capital Partners announced it

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4784-591: The decision. The following day, at a meeting of team bosses at Heathrow Airport in London, Ecclestone offered the teams a total of £260,000,000 over three years in return for unanimous renewal of the Concorde Agreement, which expired in 2008. Two weeks later, Gerhard Gribkowsky, a board member of Bayerische Landesbank and the chairman of SLEC, said that the banks had no intention to remove Ecclestone from his position of control. Ecclestone saw 14 of 20 cars pull out of

4876-516: The end of the year, Piquet left after seven years. He was unhappy with the money that Ecclestone was willing to offer him and went to Williams where he would win his third championship. The following year, Murray, who since 1973 had designed cars that had scored 22 GP wins, left Brabham to join McLaren. Brabham continued under Ecclestone's leadership to the end of the 1987 season, in which the team scored only eight points. BMW withdrew from Formula One after

4968-481: The fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was – in the way that he could command a lot of people – able to get things done." According to Ecclestone: "If you have a look at a democracy it hasn't done a lot of good for many countries — including this one", in reference to the United Kingdom. He also said that his friend of 40 years Max Mosley,

5060-515: The fifth richest person in the world, who bought 20% of the club. On 17 December 2010 it was announced that Ecclestone had purchased the majority of shares from Flavio Briatore becoming the majority shareholder with 62% of the shares. It was announced on 18 August 2011 that Ecclestone and Briatore had sold their entire shareholding in the club to Tony Fernandes , known for his ownership of the Caterham Formula 1 team. For many years Ecclestone

5152-574: The group from 2017 to 2020, is non-executive chairman. In 1974, the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) was founded in order to increase commercial organisation of Formula One for the benefit of the racing teams. In 1978, Bernie Ecclestone became the executive of FOCA, and fought the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) for control of the commercial rights of F1 . Disputes were settled by March 1981 when

5244-623: The last 25 years and we are delighted that each of them will now form part of the Formula One Group". Formula Motorsport Limited (formerly GP2 Motorsport Limited) was acquired by CVC in 2007, with its ownership controlled by Formula One's holding companies. FML currently runs various Formula One feeder series, which usually run races at the European rounds of the F1 championship, in order to give drivers experience and exposure to Formula One teams. Series currently run by FML are: Dormant series previously run by FML are: The Formula One Group also owns

5336-594: The last day of 2012. After the loss of Silverstone as the venue for the British Grand Prix in 2008, Ecclestone came under fire from several high-profile names for his handling of Formula One's revenues. Damon Hill blamed Formula One Management as a key factor in the loss of the event: "There's always been the question of the FOM fee, and ultimately that is the deciding factor. To quote Bernie, he once said: 'You can have anything you like, as long as you pay too much for it,' but we can't pay too much for something ... The problem

5428-411: The late 1990s, but Ecclestone emerged on top again in 1997 when he negotiated the fourth Concorde Agreement : in exchange for annual payments, he maintained the television rights. Also in 1978, Ecclestone hired Sid Watkins as official Formula One medical doctor. Following the crash at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix , Watkins demanded that Ecclestone provide better safety measures, which were provided at

5520-399: The location of the pit lane entrance adjacent to the 350 km/h (220 mph) main straight, calling it "one of the places I always found the most dangerous of the whole year". Formula One race director Michael Masi disagreed with Rosberg, saying the venue "fulfils all of the various safety requirements that the FIA has within its regulation requirements.". In October 2022, Arif Rahimov

5612-439: The next race. This way, Formula One began to improve safety, decreasing the number of deaths and serious injuries along the decades. At the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix , following Ayrton Senna 's fatal accident but while Senna was still alive, Ecclestone inadvertently misinformed Senna's family that Senna had died. Ecclestone had used a walkie-talkie to ask Sid Watkins - who was at the crash scene - about Senna's condition. Over

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5704-556: The other domestic appliances." Following Patrick's 2008 victory at Twin Ring Motegi, Ecclestone personally sent her a congratulatory letter. On 7 January 2010, it was announced that Ecclestone had, together with Genii Capital , submitted a bid for Swedish car brand Saab Automobile . On 3 September 2007, it was announced that Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore had bought Queens Park Rangers (QPR) Football Club . In December 2007, they were joined as co-owners by businessman Lakshmi Mittal ,

5796-506: The proceedings ended the following day, Justice Andrew Park announced his intention to reserve ruling for several weeks. On 6 December 2004, Park read his verdict, stating that "In [his] judgment it is clear that Speed's contentions are correct and [he] should therefore make the declarations which it requests." However, Ecclestone insisted that the verdict – seen almost universally as a legal blow to his control of Formula One – would mean "nothing at all". He stated his intention to appeal against

5888-501: The proceedings had ended the following day, Justice Andrew Park announced his intention to reserve ruling for several weeks. On 6 December 2004, Park read his verdict, stating that "In [his] judgment it is clear that Speed's contentions are correct and [he] should therefore make the declarations which it requests". However, Ecclestone insisted that the verdict - seen almost universally as a legal blow to his control of Formula One - would mean "nothing at all". He stated his intention to appeal

5980-495: The public's frustration at the resultant six-car race. Despite him not having caused the problem, fans and journalists blamed him for failing to take control and enforce a solution, given the position of power in which he had placed himself. On 25 November 2005 CVC Capital Partners announced it was to purchase both the Ecclestone shares of the Formula One Group (25% of SLEC) and Bayerische Landesbank's 48% share (held through Speed Investments). This left Alpha Prema owning 71.65% of

6072-476: The race. The logistics of moving equipment and personnel from each race is also handled by FOM, which provides the teams with a set amount of transport for the races outside of Europe. The Formula One Group is also used to refer to several related companies, which although not part of the Group, are controlled by the Delta Topco holding company, and have business related to Formula One. Allsport Management S.A.

6164-427: The rear tyres used in free practice for the 2016 Grand Prix had been cut by the bolts securing kerbs to the ground not being drilled into the ground far enough, while Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg expressed concern over the lack of run-off areas which would be dangerous in the case of an incident such as a high speed puncture or mechanical failure. Valtteri Bottas was forced to miss the whole of Free Practice 3 when

6256-438: The remaining ownership split between Bernie Ecclestone , other investment companies, and company directors. It was bought by Liberty Media in 2017. Ecclestone, a former Formula One team boss, spent 40 years as chief executive of the company after gaining control of the commercial rights. As of January 2021 , the group is run by Stefano Domenicali as president and chief executive officer. Chase Carey , who previously ran

6348-441: The rest from Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan Chase . Kirch's involvement raised concerns among the major automobile manufacturers who participate in Formula One; BMW , DaimlerChrysler , Fiat , Ford , and Renault formed GPWC Holding BV to secure better representation of the manufacturers in F1, improved financial conditions for the teams, stability for the championship, and maintenance of free-to-air television coverage. Due to

6440-463: The richest men in the United Kingdom. Ecclestone was replaced by Chase Carey as chief executive of the Formula One Group in 2017. He was subsequently appointed as chairman emeritus and acted as an adviser to the board. Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore also owned the English football club Queens Park Rangers between 2007 and 2011. Over his four-decade career as an executive in Formula One, Ecclestone

6532-486: The rights for a 14-year period beginning in 1996. FOWC, as the commercial rights holder, negotiates the contracts for holding F1 Grands Prix , organising television contracts with broadcasters, and receiving licensing fees for use of Formula One material. The company also has a seat on the FIA World Motor Sport Council , the body responsible for regulating international motorsport. Formula One Licensing BV

6624-431: The rights to MotoGP . CVC announced the completion of the transaction on 28 March. CVC acquired Lehman Brothers' share at the end of March 2006. Allsport Management SA , owned by Paddy McNally was also acquired by CVC on 30 March. On 21 July 2007, Ecclestone announced in the media that he would be open to discussing the purchase of Arsenal Football Club . As a close friend to former director of Arsenal David Dein, it

6716-496: The second-biggest shareholder. The planned flotation was kept on hold throughout 2012, until it was revived in April 2013 when Ecclestone announced it would take place within the year. In late 2016, Liberty Media agreed to buy controlling interest in the Formula One Group for $ 4.4 billion (£3.3 billion). The deal was approved by regulators and completed on 23 January 2017. Chase Carey subsequently became chief executive of

6808-407: The son of British fascist leader Oswald Mosley , "would do a super job" as Prime Minister and added "I don't think his background would be a problem." Stephen Pollard , editor of The Jewish Chronicle , said: "Mr Ecclestone is either an idiot or morally repulsive. Either he has no idea how stupid and offensive his views are or he does and deserves to be held in contempt by all decent people." In

6900-535: The sport and grow Formula One's presence in new markets. The season calendar for the championship is structured by FOM, with the WMSC having oversight. Payments to the teams are determined by the Concorde Agreement , which gives the teams 50% of the television money in Constructors' Championship order, and awards a prize fund to teams based upon their results, which is drawn from the fees Grand Prix promoters pay for staging

6992-607: The start line. The circuit was projected to be the fastest street circuit in the world, with a top speed close to 360 km/h (220 mph) and the second-longest circuit on the current F1 calendar, behind the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium . The circuit's tight layout through urban parkland shares similarities with the Montjuïc circuit which hosted the Spanish Grand Prix in

7084-480: The static of the walkie-talkie, Ecclestone misheard Watkins' response of "His head" as "He's dead". Based on this, Ecclestone told Senna's brother Leonardo, who was attending the race, that Senna had died. Senna in fact remained biologically alive for several more hours. This misunderstanding caused a rift in the hitherto friendly relations between Ecclestone and the Senna family; although Ecclestone travelled to Sâo Paulo at

7176-498: The teams, and 50% to the FIA. FOPA also received all the fees paid by promoters and paid prize money to the teams. The third Concorde Agreement was signed in 1992. When the fourth Concorde Agreement was signed in 1995, the FIA decided to grant the commercial rights of F1 to Formula One Administration (managed by FOM) for a 14-year period. In exchange, Ecclestone would provide an annual payment. With FOM having exclusive rights to popular team names like McLaren , Williams , and Tyrrell ,

7268-591: The televised feeds of all Grand Prix sessions, which are then supplied through the Eurovision satellites network ( EBU ) to broadcasters who provide commentary and distribute the feed in the authorised region(s) of said broadcasters. The production arm of FOM is based at Biggin Hill Airport , London , for easy travel of the equipment needed to broadcast the race. Financially, FOM provides partial investment for new tracks and teams, to allow them to establish themselves in

7360-621: The ticker FWONA and FWONK. The Formula One Group was controlled by its shareholders through the Delta Topco holding company , which through a number of holding companies registered in the United Kingdom , Jersey and Luxembourg controls the SLEC Holdings company, the Formula One Group's immediate owner. The Formula One Group comprises several subsidiary companies which control the various rights, management, and licensing operations of

7452-433: The time of Senna's funeral, he did not attend the funeral itself, instead watching it on television at his hotel. Despite heart surgery and triple coronary bypass in 1999, Ecclestone remained as energetic as always in promoting his own business interests. In the late 1990s he reduced his share in SLEC Holdings (owner of the various F1 managing firms) to 25%, though despite his minority share he retained complete control of

7544-485: The trial. In the weeks following the events of the murder of George Floyd , seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton , F1's only black driver, had launched his own commission to tackle racism and increase diversity, with Formula One launching a We Race As One initiative to fight global inequality. In an interview with CNN , Ecclestone initially praised Hamilton's efforts but then questioned whether it would "do anything bad or good for Formula One", before saying that "In

7636-466: The whole team, which Tauranac eventually accepted. Tauranac stayed on as designer and to run the factory, while Colin Seeley was briefly brought in against Tauranac's wishes to assist in design and management. Ecclestone and Tauranac were both dominant personalities and Tauranac left Brabham early in the 1972 season . The team achieved little during 1972, as Ecclestone moulded the team to fit his vision of

7728-417: Was believed that the current board of the north London–based football club would prefer to sell to a British party, this after American-based investment company KSE headed by Stan Kroenke was thought to be preparing a £650 million takeover bid for Arsenal Holdings plc. The revenue sharing with the various teams, the Concorde Agreement, expired on the last day of 2007, and the contract with the FIA expired on

7820-471: Was called "themed advertising", where one advertiser is given total exposure at one part of the track. This is in contrast to the Monaco Grand Prix , the only grand prix where Allsport is not involved; where space is sold such that multiple advertisers are visible in every picture. The Paddock Club is Formula One's corporate hospitality organisation, which provides a luxury area for VIP's and sponsors for

7912-602: Was designed by circuit architect Hermann Tilke . The circuit starts adjacent to Azadliq Square , then loops around Government House before heading west along a 1 km (0.62 mi) straight to the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower . Here, the track has a narrow 7.6 m (25 ft) uphill traversal and then circles the Old City before opening up onto a 2.2 km (1.4 mi) stretch along Neftchilar Avenue back to

8004-541: Was dismissed from the post of Executive Director of Baku City Circuit, after he had held this position for the past 7 years. Magsud Farzullayev was appointed acting executive director. As of April 2023, the fastest official race lap records at the Baku City Circuit are listed as: Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British business magnate , motorsport executive and former racing driver . Widely known in journalism as

8096-495: Was involved in several controversies . With the birth of his son in 2020, he became the sixth-oldest father in human history . In October 2023, Ecclestone was convicted of tax fraud at Southwark Crown Court , and agree to pay HM Revenue and Customs over £ 650 million in back taxes and penalties; he was sentenced to 17 months in prison, suspended for two years. Ecclestone was born on 28 October 1930 in St Peter, South Elmham ,

8188-510: Was linked to the sale of a stake in Formula 1. Gribkowsky, the BayernLB bank executive, was found guilty of taking $ 44m in bribes and failing to pay tax on the money. On 14 January 2014, a court in Munich ruled that Ecclestone would indeed be tried on bribery charges in Germany, and on 5 August 2014, the same court ruled that Ecclestone could pay a £60m settlement, without admitting guilt, to end

8280-676: Was rumoured to have been involved in the Great Train Robbery (1963) . In a 2014 interview Ecclestone claimed that this rumour arose from his acquaintance with robber Roy James, the getaway driver who was an amateur racing driver. James later produced the silver trophy given to Formula One promoters. In 1997, Ecclestone was involved in a political controversy over the British Labour Party 's policy on tobacco sponsorship. Labour had pledged to ban tobacco advertising in its manifesto ahead of its 1997 general election victory , supporting

8372-575: Was struggling with its debts, the share price dropped 90%. In February, the Kirch Group agreed to rescue EM.TV in return for a stake in the company and control of Speed Investments. Alan Henry of The Guardian reported that the two companies also agreed to exercise EM.TV's option to purchase another 25% of SLEC for approximately £600 million in late-March 2001. To raise Speed Investments' share of SLEC to 75% Kirch borrowed €1.6 billion, €1 billion from Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) and

8464-544: Was to acquire the 25% and 48% shares of Bambino and BayernLB in SLEC, and acquired the shares of JPMorgan Chase in December 2005. This deal was given approval by the European Commission on 21 March 2006 and finalised on 28 March. Ecclestone used the proceeds of the sale of Bambino Holdings' share to reinvest in the company to give the Ecclestone family a 13.8% stake in the holding company Alpha Prema. On 30 March 2006, CVC purchased

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