German prosecutors prepare to charge Ecclestone

German prosecutors are closing in on F1’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

It has emerged that Ecclestone could soon be indicted after former F1 banker Gerhard Gribkowsky testified from behind bars that the 81-year-old Briton mockingly called him a "civil servant" amid the alleged bribery transactions of some years ago.

That would open Ecclestone to the serious charge of having knowingly bribed a public official.

Bild newspaper said prosecutor Thomas Steinkraus-Koch has confronted Ecclestone’s lawyers with the outcome of the investigation and is awaiting a response.