Formula One ( F1 )

Also it would appear that Bernie is in big trouble:

If Munich's higher regional court were to find Ecclestone - who denies all charges - guilty, then the subject of his legacy would move from being a live issue to one spoken of in the past tense.

For a start, while he was generous enough to arrange the trial so it largely takes place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, to suit F1's frenetic schedule, the judge in the case already seems to be convinced of Ecclestone's guilt.

Peter Noll and the 83 year-old have crossed paths before. Ecclestone was called as a witness in the trial of Gerhard Gribkowsky; the German banker who F1's CEO is accused of paying a bribe to in order to smooth the sale of the sport to his preferred owners, CVC Capital Partners, who would allow him to retain control.

Noll not only sentenced Gribkowsky to eight-and-a-half years in prison, **in his concluding remarks he said: "In this process we assume the driving force was Mr Ecclestone." **He also presided over a corruption trial involving Siemens, the German multinational, and these cases clearly are his speciality.

The prosecutors involved are also patently not amateurs. Earlier this year they successfully brought a case for tax fraud against Uli Hoeness, the former Bayern Munich president. Evidently, no fish is too big to fry. Furthermore, the 256-page indictment - which paints Ecclestone as a man desperate to retain control F1 at all costs - is incredibly thorough. They have spent nearly two years since Gribkowsky's conviction preparing the case.