Bernie exhausted after just one day

Bernie Ecclestone's bribery trial is expected to last until September but already the F1 supremo says it is "exhausting" and "stressful."

Ecclestone is standing trial in Germany after being charged with bribing German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky to the tune of $44 million during the sale of F1 to CVC.

The German prosecutor alleges that Ecclestone paid Gribkowsky to facilitate the sale to CVC, Ecclestone's preferred bidder who had agreed to him being chief executive of F1.

Speaking to the Bild after Thursday's opening day in court, Ecclestone said: "It was an exhausting first day. The judge, the prosecutors and my lawyers all speak German, I don't.

"Although I had an interpreter translating every word simultaneously, it was still stressful to follow everything as it was being said."

But despite the stress, Ecclestone found time to banter with judge Peter Noll.

"Why not?" he told the German newspaper. "The court and the prosecutors are all nice people just trying to do their jobs."

Ecclestone, who has denied all charges, will return to the Munich court on May 2.