Mercedes May Exit F1 due to Eccelstone's Bribery Scandal

[Source: Handelsblatt]

F1’s bribery scandal could cost the sport the involvement of German carmaker Mercedes.

Mercedes, with its own Brackley based works team and also a major engine supplier, is watching the Gerhard Gribkowsky affair with particular attention, according to the business newspaper Handelsblatt. The report said the affair, and particularly the implication of F1’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, would have "serious consequences" with regards to Mercedes’ involvement in the sport.

Senior Daimler officials are reportedly very concerned that, in the event the corruption is proved, Mercedes’ continuing involvement would be disallowed due to the Stuttgart marque’s strict anti-corruption statutes. Namely, Daimler "does not tolerate the immoral or corrupt practices of its employees or its business partners", the statutes read.

Laurenz Schmitt, a corporate lawyer for Linklaters in Munich, confirmed that "Ecclestone’s bribery payments would fall under this company guideline". Another legal expert agrees that "If Ecclestone is charged with bribery, Daimler would have to withdraw from F1".

A Mercedes spokesperson told Bild newspaper: "We welcome the evaluation of the recent allegations in formula one and now await the clarification of the authorities."

Gerhard Gribkowsky was on Wednesday sentenced to jail by a Munich court. The guilty verdict could have serious implications for F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who admits to paying millions to the former BayernLB banker. Gribkowsky was sentenced to eight and a half years in jail for crimes including bribery, for the $44 million received from Ecclestone.

In closing arguments earlier Wednesday, the German prosecutors described Ecclestone as an "accomplice", not a victim of extortion as claimed by the 81-year-old Briton.


bum bum buummm...

 

OH NOES

 

wow wow. So their involvement in the sport would end due to an internal contractual issue disallowing being affiliated with corruption rather than their actually wanting to pull out of the sport. Wild.

 

Or maybe it's just a cop out?

 

Yawn, they're just trying to find reasons to quit because they're not doing as well as they hoped.

 

Rosberg for Ferrari then? hehe.

 

F1 is the only sport I can think of where the teams are the show.
Without the Mclaren, Ferrari, Williams etcs F1 would be a derivative of F2.
"Nothing to see here.. move on.. move on.."
Bernie has them thinking its the show that counts not the entertainers.
How he can pull this off year after year is anyone's guess.

Mercedes, Honda, BMW, etc are (were) just looking for excuses to make things right.

FOTA.

 

Namely, Daimler "does not tolerate the immoral or corrupt practices of its employees or its business partners", the statutes read

Is this the same Mercedes that sucked the cash out of Chrysler then decided leave them high and dry?

I guess corporate greed is ok with them.

 

Or, this is all just further posturing for their prior FOta negotiations which they still have yet to come to an agreement with. I believe they want to be treated the same as the other large teams, or perhaps with some premium.

 

ROLMFAO!!!

 

Plus they'll stay on as engine supplier as its more "profitable" proving they're hyprocrites

 

That plus the global/European recession we're entering.

Mercedes might have enough $ to run its F1 team, but if you are envisioning labor cuts, it gets really hard to negotiate with (in Germany very strong) worker unions while you're burning through 500 million for your "hobby".

 

We're just entering this recession? OH S*#T!!!!

 

Actually I think so.

Germany is still doing relatively ok but the writing is on the wall.

No intention of hijacking this thread, so let's not turn this into an economic/ political debate. We can probably all agree that the economic climate is bad.

 

If MB leaves they were going to anyway, but will use this as the reason. $$$ is at play. if they were against corruption they would never be in F-1 in the first place. F-1 is about as corrupt as you can be. its a complete monopoly, run by Bernie and FOM. Bernie has always used bribery as a way to sow dissent in FOTA, FIA, etc.... how to you think Ferrari gets preferential treatment??

Bernie has way outgrown his usefulness to F-1 & the people who got him there.

 

Not so much the lack of money or a possible recession, but a highly sensitive environment in terms of corruption here.
Siemens and other companies had had their scandals for bribing officials in various countries - something everyone has to do to get business there, but they were stupid enough to be caught - and Daimler has even hired a former constitution court judge to oversee their own policies. What they do not want to see is headlines implying that Daimler finances someone (=Bernie) who stole millions of Euros from the taxpayer.

 

A lot of noise but nothing will come of it.

 

I wouldn't bet on that; I'm with Florian on this: I think that no "corporate body" in Europe today would like to be involved, either near or far, in any form of activity for which the main / executive person in charge is convicted of bribery or corruption.
And this applies especially today to the finance industry; I bet corporatre lawyers in any bank involved with Formula One (Santander, etc..) are busily reading and analysing yesterday's court's decision at the minute...

 

http://pitpass.com/46667-Ecclestone-is-far-away-from-being-charged-says-lawyer

 

Whatever you may think of the Pygmee, there is one thing for sure: he is not stupid...

 

I think they're just throwing a drama. Since they came into F1, every now and then i seem to read 'Merc to exit F1'.

 

While there is a certain amount of posturing for the Concorde negotiations in the statement there is also enough truth in it to make it plausible.

 

Definitely not stupid. He takes 70% of the money coming into F1 and has made £2billion !! out of F1. Who else has made that much?

 

Bernie has made himself a ton of money but more importantly he has and continues to make a lot of others rich. He's got a lot of influential folks loathe to upset the status quo.

 

Daimler have reported very profitable quarters for quite some time now, and this company has never had any issue selling their cars. The company is financially in an excellent position despite the state of the economy for the past few years. This is public information so it's not difficult to find. Daimler is not a company that is so much based on what is happening locally, it's global and its biggest customers are still buying their products clean off the shelves.


Bernie will get out of this, he always does.