Bernie Ecclestone – the former supremo of Formula 1 – has pleaded guilty to fraud at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday but has been spared jail. The 92-year-old failed to declare more than £400 million of overseas assets to the government, namely a trust in Singapore with a bank account of around $650 million. He was sentenced to 17 months in jail, suspended for two years. He has agreed a civil settlement of £652,634,836 in respect of sums due to HMRC over the course of 18 years. The billionaire, who has courted controversy throughout his life, was in charge of F1 for over 40 years before relinquishing his role in 2017 when current owners Liberty Media took over the running of the sport. The Independent takes a look at Ecclestone’s life and times through his tenure in motorsport and beyond: 1930 – Ecclestone born on 28 October, son of Sidney and Bertha Sophia, in St Peter, Suffolk. 1952– Marries first wife, Ivy Bamford, at 21-years-old. They have a daughter, Deborah, born in 1955. The pair divorce in the 1960s. 1958 – Entered two F1 races as a driver, at Monaco and Silverstone, after purchasing two chassis from the disbanded Connaught Formula One team. Failed to qualify for either race. 1972 – Buys Brabham F1 team for £100,000. Tastes success with Nelson Piquet’s two world titles in 1981 and 1983, though only records a best result of second in the constructors’ championship. 1974 – Forms the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA). Played crucial role in negotiating F1’s television rights. Becomes chief executive in 1978. 1984 – Slavica Radic, later his second wife, becomes pregnant and second daughter Tamara is born. Marries Radic in 1985. 1988 – Sells Brabham for more than $5 million to Swiss businessman Joachim Luhti. 1988 – Ecclestone’s third daughter, Petra, is born in London. 1997 – Embroiled in a dispute with the Labour Party over tobacco sponsorship of Formula 1, in contrary to the new government’s health position. After a meeting with prime minister Tony Blair alongside Max Mosley (a fellow Labour Party donor), the government make an exemption for F1. 2005 – Farce embroils the United States Grand Prix, with seven teams refusing to participate due to safety concerns over the Michelin tyres used. No compromise was reached, and only six cars (using Bridgestone tyres) started the race. 2008 – Radic files for divorce, which is settled in March 2009. She receives a reported settlement of $1 billion. 2009 – Crashgate. F1 descends into chaos after cheating scandal which saw Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crash a year earlier in Singapore to aid his team-mate, race winner Fernando Alonso. It later emerges, in 2023, that Ecclestone and then-FIA boss Mosley knew about the scandal at the time. Felipe Massa is now in the process of pursuing legal action for damages, having lost the 2008 world title to Lewis Hamilton. 2009 – Ecclestone widely condemned after remarks that were positive about Adolf Hitler. He said to The Times: “Terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was – in the way that he could command a lot of people – able to get things done”. Ecclestone later apologised for his comments. 2012 – Marries vice-president of marketing for the Brazilian Grand Prix Fabiana Flosi, 46 years his junior. 2014 – Paid a £60 million settlement to end a bribery trial in Germany without admitting guilt. Prosecutors had accused him of bribery of banker Gerhard Gribkowsky. 2017 – Removed from position as CEO of Formula One Group after its £6.4 billion takeover by Liberty Media. Retains title of Chairman Emeritus until January 2020. 2020 – Ecclestone has first son, Ace (Alexander Charles Ecclestone), at age 89. 2020 – Criticised by F1 and Lewis Hamilton after comments made in wake of the murder of George Floyd. Ecclestone says to CNN: “In a lot of cases, black people are more racist than what white people are.” 2022 – Arrested by Brazilian authorities for illegally carrying a firearm while boarding a private plane to Switzerland. Ecclestone paid bail and was freed to travel to Switzerland. 2022 – Ecclestone says on Good Morning Britain that he would “take a bullet” for Russia president Vladimir Putin because he was a “first class person,” adding that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was just a “mistake” that businessman make. He later apologised for his comments. 2023 – Pleaded guilty to £400m fraud. Sentenced to 17 months in prison, suspended for two years. Read More Lewis Hamilton gives blunt response to Felipe Massa’s legal action over 2008 F1 title F1 given new deadline by Felipe Massa’s lawyers – who label Lewis Hamilton title a ‘sham’ ‘More teams, less races’: FIA boss outlines aspirations for future of F1 F1 reveal unique Las Vegas GP schedule and ‘opening ceremony’ plans Lance Stroll ‘may have contravened FIA rules’ during furious outburst in Qatar

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Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz beat Lando Norris and Mercedes’ tactical gamble in a frenetic finale to win the Singapore Grand Prix and end Red Bull’s bid to become Formula One’s ‘Invincibles’. Red Bull arrived at the Marina Bay Circuit with 14 victories from 14 rounds, but Sainz finally ended their crushing dominance with an impressive victory. Norris took second after holding off George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who both stopped for tyres with 17 laps remaining in a gung-ho bid to take the win. But Russell and Hamilton were unable to find a way past a resilient Norris in a dramatic conclusion with the former crashing out on the final lap. Russell’s crash allowed Hamilton to complete the podium, with Charles Leclerc fourth. Max Verstappen’s record winning streak is also over after the Dutchman – who became the first driver in the sport’s history to rack up 10 straight victories at the Italian Grand Prix a fortnight ago – finished fifth. Verstappen’s lead over Sergio Perez, who finished eighth, stands at 151 points, meaning the former cannot secure his third world title at next weekend’s round in Japan. Red Bull have ruled the F1 roost all year but the world champions have been desperately off-colour at this unique 3.07-mile high-downforce circuit in the city-state. Red Bull’s sudden malaise allowed for a shoot-out between Ferrari and Mercedes and McLaren’s Norris become the first non-Red Bull winner of 2023. After capturing his second pole in as many races, Sainz led from the start with team-mate Leclerc leapfrogging Russell off the line. Hamilton suddenly found himself up two spots from fifth after he cut the chicane at the opening corner but the seven-time world champion was forced to give the places back to Russell in the other Mercedes and Norris. With overtaking virtually impossible in Singapore, Sainz was able to control the pace by backing up the pack. On lap 20, Logan Sargeant crashed into the wall, dislodging his front wing underneath his Williams. The American rookie limped back to the pits, but with pieces of debris littering the circuit, the safety car was deployed. In came the leaders for fresh tyres, with Russell and Norris able to get the jump on Leclerc. Verstappen, having started 11th, was suddenly up to second, by virtue of staying out on old rubber. Perez, who also remained out, was fourth. But when the race restarted on lap 23, both Verstappen and Perez were vulnerable with Russell wasting no time in passing Verstappen for second. Norris and Hamilton gazumped Perez and then Verstappen with the Red Bulls falling down the order. Russell was then on Sainz’s gearbox but unable to make an impression. “I want to go for this win,” Russell said. “We’re on the same page,” came the reply from the Mercedes pit wall. And on lap 45, Mercedes rolled the strategical dice by pitting both Russell and Hamilton for fresh rubber when Esteban Ocon broke down in his Alpine and a Virtual Safety Car was deployed. Russell, who dropped from second to fifth, left the pits 17.5 seconds behind Sainz, but on lap 53, he fought his way ahead of Leclerc – with Sainz eight seconds up the road. Hamilton followed his team-mate through with the black-liveried Mercedes taking chunks of time out of Sainz and Norris. With five laps remaining, Russell was crawling all over the back of Norris’ McLaren, but he could not dislodge his countryman and then on lap 62 of 62 he dramatically put his Mercedes in the wall after clipping the barrier. Sainz took the flag eight tenths clear of Norris, with Hamilton four tenths behind the McLaren driver. Norris said: “We knew it would be tough after Mercedes stopped for tyres but we held them off. I hit the same wall as George, but he copied me and did it even worse. But I feel for him – he was the fastest driver today.” After taking his 196th podium, Hamilton said: “We rolled the dice this weekend. I felt like it was a two-stop strategy and the team did an amazing job to get us up there. “It was unfortunate for George but we were pushing so hard to catch these guys.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Lance Stroll to sit out Singapore Grand Prix after huge crash in qualifying ‘You can forget about that’ – Max Verstappen rules out another win in Singapore Lance Stroll crashes into barrier at 110mph in Singapore Grand Prix qualifying