US ruling gives Bernie Ecclestone some legal relief The case in New York revolved around the $830 million sale of a 47 percent stake in Formula One to CVC by German bank BayernLB. Bluewaters alleged that it was the highest bidder and that Ecclestone had favoured a sale to CVC because it planned to keep him on as chief executive of a business he built into a global money-spinner. Ecclestone, 83, is waiting to hear the outcome of a $100 million damages claim brought in London by a German company which says it too lost out because of the CVC deal. He will go on trial in Munich in April after being charged with bribing former BayernLB banker Gerhard Gribkowsky to smooth the sale to CVC. Ecclestone denies wrongdoing and says he was the victim of coercion by Gribkowsky. The 83-year-old assured Formula One's board last week that he is "innocent of the charges" and will "vigorously defend the case" when it goes to court.