Buff-Community.de » An engine mode issue during the European

LONDON -- Despite a ruling damaging to his already tarnished image, Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone won a multimillion-dollar case at Londons High Court Thursday relating to the sale of F1 in 2005. The case was dismissed but the judge said it had nevertheless been a corrupt deal and questioned Ecclestones honesty. "Even ... making allowances for the lapse of time and Mr Ecclestones age, I am afraid that I find it impossible to regard him as a reliable or truthful witness," judge Guy Newey said. A former F1 shareholder, German media company Constantin Medien, had sued Ecclestone and other defendants for up to $144 million, claiming F1 was undervalued at the time of the sale to investment group CVC Capital Partners. The 83-year-old Ecclestone was accused of entering into a "corrupt agreement" with German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky to facilitate the sale of Formula One Group to a buyer chosen by him. The High Court said the deal was corrupt, but ruled that Constantin Medien did not lose out as a result. "No loss to Constantin has been shown to have been caused by the corrupt arrangement with Dr Gribkowsky," the judge said in his conclusions. "That fact is fatal to the claim." During the trial, which ran from October to December last year, Constantin Mediens lawyers said that payments totalling about 27 million pounds ($45 million) were made to Gribkowsky at the instigation of Ecclestone. Gribkowsky, who was in charge of selling German bank BayernLBs 47-per cent stake in F1 to CVC, has already been found guilty of corruption, tax evasion and breach of trust and is serving an 8 1/2-year prison sentence. Ecclestone acknowledged during Gribkowskys trial that he made the payment to avoid being reported by the banker to authorities over his tax affairs. "The payments were a bribe. They were made because Mr Ecclestone had entered into a corrupt agreement with Dr Gribkowsky in May 2005 under which Dr Gribkowsky was to be rewarded for facilitating the sale of BLBs shares in the Formula One group to a buyer acceptable to Mr Ecclestone," the judge said. Constantin said it would appeal the decision. "The judge ruled against Constantin essentially on technical grounds -- including extremely complicated questions of German law which is the governing law in the case -- and Constantin will be appealing those findings," said lawyer Keith Oliver, head of commercial fraud litigation at Peters and Peters Solicitors. Ecclestone is also facing trial in Germany. He is charged with bribery and incitement to breach of trust connected with the payment to Gribkowsky. The trial will begin on April 24 and is set to run until Sept. 16. Bribery convictions can result in prison sentences ranging from three months to 10 years in Germany. Ecclestone said earlier this month he is expecting the case to be thrown out before the trial starts. Ecclestone has stepped down as a member of F1s holding company board of directors pending the outcome of the trial but continues running the sport. Elandon Roberts Jersey . -- Slugger Jose Abreu, All-Star left-hander Chris Sale and closer Matt Lindstrom are on the disabled list. Josh Gordon Jersey . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. http://www.officialnewenglandpatriotsfoo...rsey-womens.com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Danny Etling Jersey . He had even more fun Friday. Coming off a sensational rookie season, Spieth opened the new year by never coming close to bogey and making a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 7-under 66. Trey Flowers Jersey . But qualifying for her first Scotties Tournament of Hearts after years of falling short in tough Manitoba provincial championships is as good as consolation prizes get for the 29-year-old from Winnipegs Fort Rouge Curling Club.Lewis Hamiltons latest engine blow-out not only gifted Nico Rosberg a 23-point lead in the title race, but also had the world champion demanding reliability answers from his Mercedes team. It is not my lowest point - I have had lower points for sure - but in terms of feeling helpless that is the most helpless I can be at this point, said the three-time world champion.Mercedes admitted at Sepang they could give no explanation to their driver for why he has persistently suffered reliability failures this year and as F1 hurtles towards the final stretch of the 2016 season, there are no guarantees that Hamiltons car wont break down again - and cost him a third successive world title. How unlucky has Hamilton been?Hamilton has suffered five specific instances of debilitating unreliability this year. They are:An ERS failure at the start of qualifying in China, relegating him to 22nd on the grid. He finished seventh.An ERS failure during Q3 in Russia, restricting the Mercedes driver to 10th on the grid. He finished second.An engine mode issue during the European GP. He finished fifth having started in 10th following a crash in qualifying.A hydraulics fault during Practice Two in Singapore which was cited as a critical factor in his defeat to Rosberg. He finished third.An engine blow-out in Malaysia which cost him an almost-certain victory.There is, of course, no way of determining how many points Hamiltons bad luck has cost. But it could be reasonably argued that it has denied him at least 40 points this year - 12 in China, when Mercedes were a class above the rest, 25 in Sepang, and ten in Belgium when Hamilton was relegated to the back of the grid after Mercedes introduced fresh power units to compensate for his early-season failures.Hamilton supporters would also argue unreliability accounted for more lost points in Sochi and Singapore, but its by no means clear the Englishman had a pace advantage over his Mercedes team-mate Rosberg on those weekends. Lewis Hamilton’s engine fails whist leading the Malaysia GP Does it really only happen to Hamilton?While the conspiracy theorists inevitably blew a gasket after Hamiltons Sepang blow-out, the notion Hamilton is the victim of deliberate sabotage can be instantly dismissed. Hamilton is the teams most powerful asset, any deliberate sleight of hand would have been uncovered in such a forensically-scrutinised operation, and there are easier and more subtle ways of crippling a car than making its engine go bang with 15 laps of a grand prix to go. But that doesnt explain why Hamilton has suffered the brunt of Mercedes unreliability this year.I just cant believe that theres eight Mercedes cars and only my engines are the ones that have gone this way, he told Sky F1 in Malaysia. It was a brand new engine. Its just odd. Theres been like 43 engines for Mercedes and only mine have gone.What he said was absolutely factual, acknowledged Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle. It is difficult to understand.Even Hamiltons numbers added up: each of the eight cars powered by Mercedes have received the five power units every driver is allowed to use without penalty this season. The remaining three are the trio of fresh units the team brought to Belgium for their lead driver. And one of those has already blown up - with the fear now that the batch introduced at Spa may be plagued by a chronic fault.In short, Hamiltons Sepang blow-out may yet happen again. So why always him?Could it be installation problems? mused Brundle in his latest column for Sky Sports. Its very unlikely because there have been different failures and given the experience, processes and data this would show up quickly.How about driving style? With the latest seamless shift gearboxes it is impossible to miss a gear or over-rev on downshift. If hes bouncing off all the kerbs and putting extra load through the transmission and power plant it would be clear to see in the data.Which only leaves bad luck - and Hamiltons suggestion that a higher power may be working against him. Given that F1 is important but not that importaant, it has to be simply a case of bad luck.dddddddddddd Would Rosberg be a lucky champion?The German has undoubtedly been the chief beneficiary of Hamiltons bad luck this year, but Rosberg himself is no stranger to misfortune after plenty of reliability problems in 2014 and 2015.Ive been in his position, Rosberg said on Sunday. I know how terrible it is in that moment. Non-scores due to mechanical problems Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg 2013 0 3 2014 2 3 2015 1 2 2016 1 0 Total 4 8 But measuring bad luck is a complex business. For instance, the above table doesnt take into account the qualifying breakdowns Hamilton suffered midway through the 2014 season when his brakes failed in Germany and his car caught fire in Hungary. And detailing a mechanical glitch can be a multi-layered arrangement. Take Rosbergs grid penalty in Austria, for example, when the German driver was demoted five places after a gearbox change. Mechanical failure? Yes and no. The unit was broken, but only after Rosberg crashed in practice, an accident which in turn was attributed to a suspension failure that may or may not have been caused by Rosberg riding too far over the circuits notorious sausage kerbs.Nevertheless, it can be stated as fact that Rosbergs car hasnt been completely bullet-proof this year. His W07 suffered a gearbox glitch late in the British GP, a malfunction which ultimately demoted him from second to third and enabled Hamilton to take the lead of the title race.But while Rosberg hasnt been entirely immune from misfortune this year, there have been none of the clear-cut, high-profile, high-impact bad breaks which have repeatedly beset his team-mate. How fortunate was Rosberg in Malaysia?The world championship leader certainly rode his luck on Sunday. He could have been wiped out of the race at the first turn when his Mercedes collided with Sebastian Vettel. His W07 could have then suffered terminal damage when the rest of the field hurtled into Turn One but somehow avoided hitting the spinning Mercedes. He could have suffered self-inflicted race-ending damage when he barged into the side of Kimi Raikkonens Ferrari. And although he was then punished by the steward for causing the collision, the punishment - ten seconds of track time - was less than the amount of time Raikkonen, who finished directly behind Rosberg in fourth, lost due to the damage done to the floor of his car.The Formula 1 Gossip columnMost saliently of all, Rosberg lucked into a 28-point swing when Hamilton retired from the lead. But for the failure on the other W07, Rosberg would have been second in the standings heading to Japan. Instead he leads by 23 with just five races to go.But bad luck tends to be a fickle interloper. Hamilton has been persistently unfortunate throughout 2016 but there are still 20 other drivers in the field envious of his good fortune to be in the title race. And all it would take for him to regain the lead of the World Championship this weekend in Japan is victory and one piece of very bad luck for Rosberg. 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