Ecclestone faces 171-mln-dollar damages claim over 'undervaluing' F1 during sale

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone's legal problems deepened after hundreds of documents relating to the sale of the motor racing series seven years ago, were ordered to be released by a London Court.

According to CNN, The F1 chief executive and other defendants face a claim from German media group Constantin Medien for damages of at least 171 million dollars, as the German company claims that a 47 per cent stake held by BayernLB, the bank, in F1 was undervalued when it was sold to CVC in 2006.

Ecclestone's lawyers are already having to spend the summer on his response to the indictment served on him by German prosecutors in Munich involving allegations of aiding and abetting breach of trust and of bribery, the report said.

An Ecclestone legal team must now prepare for the Constantin Medien court case, which has been set for October 28 and is scheduled to last six weeks, and the supremo is expected to be called as a witness, along with F1 chief financial officer Duncan Llowarch, the report added.