Bernie Ecclestone has admitted that he could be forced out of his role as Formula One supremo should he face further action over the Gerhard Gribkowsky bribery affair.
Ecclestone is still waiting to hear if he will be charged in connection with allegations that he paid a bribe to Gribkoswky over the sale of F1 to CVC in 2006. Gribkowsky has already been jailed over the matter.
However, Ecclestone insists that a 45 million Euro payment he made to Gribkowsky was not a bribe, although German prosecutors are still assessing whether or not the controversial Briton should face corruption charges over the issue.
Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Ecclestone admitted that any further action against him would probably see his F1 tenure come to an end.
"CVC will probably be forced to get rid of me if the Germans come after me. It's pretty obvious, if I'm locked up," he said.
"They said they had hired a head-hunter to find somebody in the event that I was not going to be there - if I was going to die or something. It is the normal thing they do to keep people happy."