Max Mosley supports Ecclestone in F1 battle Mr Ecclestone, 82, was charged in Germany in May and a decision on whether to bring him to trial was expected by mid-September. However, on Friday German prosecutors said the decision would be delayed until next year, because of an imminent change of judge, who needed to be given time to read supplementary submissions promised by Mr Ecclestone's legal team. F1"s commercial rights are granted to it by the FIA and the contracts give the governing body a veto over change of control of the sport's operating company, Formula One Management (FOM), and its chief executive. This is backed up by the prospectus for the stalled flotation of F1 on the Singapore stock exchange, which states that "our rights can be terminated by the FIA if we undergo an unpermitted change of control." At the time of the sale to CVC, Mr Mosley was president of the FIA and chairman of its World Motor Sport Council (WMSC), of which Mr Ecclestone was also a member. Mr Mosley had the casting vote. The decision would have been for the WMSC where, as everyone knows, Bernie has many friends and supporters, so he would have had strong backing quite apart from anything I might have thought. He would have been very confident he could not be removed," Mr Mosley said. He said FIA inserted the veto clause in 1995. German court documents reveal that even if F1 had not been sold, Mr Ecclestone's position would have been protected through his family trust. They state that "an agreement dated 28 August 2005 granted 'a right of veto for Bambino regarding removal of the Accused from his position as CEO." " Mr Mosley does not say why Mr Gribkowsky received the money which Mr Ecclestone has admitted paying. Mr Ecclestone denies that it was a bribe and says that Mr Gribkowsky threatened to tell HM Revenue & Customs that he controlled Bambino, which he strongly denies. As a UK resident Mr Ecclestone would be liable to pay tax if he did control it. In June 2012, Mr Gribkowsky was found guilty of receiving the alleged bribe and jailed. This led to the prosecutors charging Mr Ecclestone with paying it.