Niki Lauda defends Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone is the subject of a trial, where he is accused of corruption, for several weeks now and the F1 magnate would be ready to pay 75 million euros to be acquitted. He recently received support from Niki Lauda.

The triple Austrian world champion and Bernie Ecclestone are often in business to discuss the future of F1. The Austrian was appointed non-executive director of Mercedes but for him F1 still has a future with Bernie Ecclestone. According to him, it is important that his corruption trial ends, as he told the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung: « I can only commend the work he does in Formula 1 from Mercedes and all the other teams because Bernie can focus on F1 and solve their problems with the current teams. If Bernie had to stop it would be a disaster for Formula 1. »

If everything is agreed between the Munich prosecutor and Ecclestone on his case, then the Munich district court will approve this decision in the coming days. Lauda then believes that everything will have been correct: « If Bernie is not convicted, knowing there were questions and doubts on the table, then he will have done what needed to be done. Bernie will then be able to focus on the future of F1. His continuity is important at the top of Formula 1. »

The Briton and the Austrian have known each other for decades; they have often had tumultuous relationships. However, this did not prevent them from respecting each other. Lauda pays tribute to Bernie Ecclestone: « He built Formula 1 over three decades, he is the only one who knows everything, the business, the teams’ concerns, he has it all in his head, he is the link between the team and the investors, he is a guarantor for the investors. »