Company files $650m lawsuit against F1

A company has filed a $650 million lawsuit against formula one.

Bluewaters Communications Holdings claims it was the high bidder to buy the sport in 2005.

It is claimed CVC, F1’s current owner, was the lower but successful bidder because of F1 chief executive Ecclestone’s alleged bribes to the now-jailed former banker Gerhard Gribkowsky.

Gribkowsky, CVC and the German bank BayernLB were all named as defendants in the New York suit, the Financial Times, Bloomberg and cityam.com report.

Bluewaters claims it offered in writing to pay 10 per cent more than all other bidders, but gave "no commitment" to keep Ecclestone in the top job.

But when asked on Monday why the bid failed, Ecclestone said: "No idea. They probably didn’t give enough money."