Horner e Perez scommettono – e l’ex boss della Formula 1 Ecclestone vince!

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Bernie Ecclestone has always had the right instincts. This was evident in a bet between Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and Red Bull driver Sergio Perez. The bet was about Perez’s position in the starting grid for the Japan Grand Prix of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

“It was about whether he would make it to the front row,” explains Horner. “Because up until then, he had only managed to qualify as high as fourth in Suzuka.” (More on that in the Formula 1 database!)

This time, however, Perez performed better than ever in Suzuka qualifying: he secured second place behind his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen and was much closer, with just 0.066 seconds behind, than in many other occasions. This meant that Perez won the bet against Horner.

But: Perez did not keep the winnings for himself, as Horner says: “When he won the bet, he told me that he owed Bernie Ecclestone the same amount. That’s why he passed the money directly to Bernie. So Bernie was the big beneficiary of the fact that ‘Checo’ [Perez] made it to the front row!”

Horner, who was also the best man at Ecclestone’s wedding to Fabiana Flosi in 2012, greatly admired this: “Good old Bernie is still making money, even though he’s no longer around.” However, Horner does not reveal how much money was at stake in the bet.

Bernie Ecclestone as Formula 1 boss and billionaire
Ecclestone controlled Formula 1 from the 1970s onwards and built it into a global sport over several decades. This turned Formula 1 into a billion-dollar business and made Ecclestone himself a wealthy man.

During his professional and private life, Bernie Ecclestone gained a reputation for being able to overcome any crisis or scandal unscathed and continue on as if nothing happened. These “Teflon characteristics” secured the tycoon his power in political quagmires, after his divorce, amidst various legal problems, and verbal outbursts. However, Ecclestone first wavered not as a businessman, but as a racing driver. A look back at scandals and controversies.

After Liberty Media took over Formula 1, Ecclestone was relieved of his duties in 2017. The now 93-year-old is only a sporadic visitor in the paddock.

However, money remains a recurring theme in the life of the longtime Formula 1 chief: in 2023, Ecclestone was convicted of tax fraud in England. However, his involvement in the bribery scandal surrounding the sale of Formula 1 shares is much more well-known: Ecclestone managed to have the case against him dropped in 2014 with a payment of approximately 75 million euros.

Forbes estimates Ecclestone’s total wealth at around 2.2 billion euros.