Bernie Ecclestone faces the most important 26 days of his life over the next few months which will determine whether he will continue his near 40-year reign as Formula One supremo.
Ecclestone goes on trial in Munich accused of bribery, and facing the prospect of 10 years imprisonment if found guilty.
In order to facilitate Ecclestone’s continued running of a sport he has ruled since the late 1970s, the prosecutors have shown a degree of leniency.
The court is to sit just one day per week for the first three weeks, followed by two days per week thereafter through to the summer break in August before concluding in mid-September, running for a total of 26 days.
Ecclestone had stood down from a number of directorial positions on companies related to F1 in mid-January.
The 83-year-old has, however, continued to run the business on a day-to-day basis, and will continue to do so through to the conclusion of the trial.
Ecclestone has long maintained his innocence, insisting he did not bribe a German banker during negotiations over F1’s sale in 2006.
Eight years ago German regional bank BayernLB sold their 47.2 per cent stake in F1 to a private equity firm, and the current majority shareholders, CVC Capital Partners.
Prosecutors claim Ecclestone paid Gerhard Gribkowsky, formerly the chief risk officer of BayernLB, a bribe of $44million to steer the sale to CVC.
In return, it is understood CVC agreed to retain Ecclestone as F1's chief executive, so allowing him to continue to run the sport.
For his part in the affair, two years ago Gribkowsky was found guilty of breach of trust, tax evasion and receipt of corrupt payments, and jailed for eight-and-a-half years.
The prosecutors are now gunning for Ecclestone, and have submitted a 256-page indictment against him.
In his defence Ecclestone claims he was “shaken down” by Gribkowsky who was threatening to inform HM Revenue Customs the 83-year-old controlled an offshore family trust.
Although Ecclestone has continually insisted the trust is not in his name, if an investigation had uncovered to the contrary he would have been liable for a tax bill of around £2 billion (Dh12bn).
In February this year, Ecclestone’s upcoming case was aided in part when a High Court judge rejected an £85m damages claim against him and three other defendants sought by German media company Constantin Medien.
Ecclestone was accused of entering into a “corrupt agreement” with Gribkowsky, and that as a former shareholder, Constantin Medien lost out in BayernLB’s deal to CVC as the shares were undervalued.
