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Bernie bribery scandal: 'I did it for F1'

LONDON, England - Formula 1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone ended his bribery trial with a record equivalent of a R1-bllion payment for 'the good of F1'.

That is the claim of the F1 supremo's lawyer Sven Thomas, who told Forbes Magazine he thinks Ecclestone's legal team did a "good job because the other guy got eight and a half years".

In contrast to the jailed Gerhard Gribkowsky, Ecclestone was able to pay the huge price for ending the trial that otherwise would have dragged on for months.

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Thomas told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt: "We have to keep in mind that Formula 1 must go on and if it went on with this trial for the next five months then it would mean that problems in the sport could arise.

"So Bernie said 'Ok I do not intend to go on with this if I get a settlement without conviction and the presumption of innocence is still valid'."

"The rest of course was just a question of money and that was what Bernie had to decide.  I think he really decided on this because he wants to go on with formula one," added Thomas.

Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 Belgium GP this weekend.
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