Ecclestone bribery case postponed

Bernie Ecclestone

A decision as to whether Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone should be tried on bribery charges has been postponed until next year by prosecutors in Germany. In July, a Munich court filed charges of bribery and incitement to breach of trust against Ecclestone, relating to a payment of $44 million issued to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky. The latter is now serving an eight and a half jail term for corruption.

Having originally claimed that a decision over whether and when the case would go to trial was not going to arrive before mid-September, a court statement on Friday said it is currently waiting for the promised responses from Ecclestone's lawyers, while an alteration to the panel of judges means a verdict "can no longer be expected" in 2013.

Ecclestone, who has consistently protested his innocence throughout the legal proceedings, has been involved in the management of Formula 1 since 1978.